Watchdog: It’s illegal to add fees to credit and debit cards
Consumers are frustrated as some merchants charge illegal fees on card payments. State regulators send warning letters.
Consumers are frustrated as some merchants charge illegal fees on card payments. State regulators send warning letters.
An obscure state bureaucrat you never heard of has done more for Texas open government than people realize.
The Texas Department of Public Safety director has the best of intentions, but he goes about it wrong.
The Watchdog looks at red-light cameras and smart meters and also shares news of a new TV partnership.
Read a sampling of the paratransit complaints Dallas Area Rapid Transit officials didn’t want you to see.
Dallas Area Rapid Transit officials say paratransit complaints are declining. Tell that to thousands of complainers.
Want the best customer service on the telephone? Tell the company rep you’re taping the call.
From unfair contracts and penalties to electricity scams and mortgage problems, readers seek help from The Watchdog.
When it comes to learning if something is covered in an auto insurance policy, asking questions causes problems later.
Puzzling new car inspection system, bird poop gets him a freebie, Verizon’s new charge and other Watchdog tales.
The Watchdog is mistakenly billed 22 times by the North Texas Tollway Authority on behalf of TxDOT.
A couple spends years trying to get a refund from a travel club. Then they go to court and something unexpected happens.
Penny Terk fought her assailant with everything she had. But this fight she lost. Now he is sitting there.
Today I unseal a four-count pretend indictment for obstruction of release of public records against Dallas Area Rapid Transit. Yep, I’m throwing a dart at DART.
One legislator calls the agency’s decision a “finger in the eye of the people of Texas.”
Several top officials resigned or were demoted after three new board members were elected, as rumors of a hit list persist.
Fingerprint checks of driver’s license applicants are temporarily halted. Also, a wanted contractor surrenders to police.
As long-term care premiums skyrocket, families ask if the Texas Department of Insurance protects them.
More toll lanes are being added; NTTA’s new agreement with Oklahoma and a lower billing threshold lead to more calls.
Dallas City Council member Jennifer Staubach Gates stepped into a neighborhood fight that caught a home’s buyer off guard.
A former employee says he resigned as a fingerprint technician because he believes a program capturing fingerprints isn’t legal; DPS officials beg to differ.
A man who spent 20 years investing in a policy almost loses it. Then a miracle happens.
The Watchdog learns about stolen mail from blue postal collection boxes in the U.S. Postal Service's Dallas District.
Dallas County Schools officials complain that hearing officers are dismissing too many school bus stop camera tickets.
A salesman using a fake name violates the National Do Not Call Registry and hawks rare coins. Unfortunately for him, he calls The Watchdog.
In Las Colinas, the son of the ex-Philadelphia godfather takes over a mortgage company. Then $12 million goes missing.
A privacy app for cellphones comes from data collectors. But PrivacyStar’s founder promises he’s one of the good guys.
For the first time, fingerprints are required from everybody at Texas driver’s license offices.
A fine, a bankruptcy and paid legal damages. Sometimes what businesses do wrong actually catches up with them.
Some Texas seniors are learning that getting a photo ID to vote and for identification purposes is no easy thing.
With days to go before the property tax protest deadline, companies want to fight for you. But you can do it yourself.
With this one important tip from The Watchdog, you earn your place as a citizen in Watchdog Nation.
A driver gets a citation a year after her infraction from a collection agency. Then her ticket is mysteriously dismissed.
A man applies for part-time jobs, but all the bosses are scammers who want to recruit him into their crime sprees.
Very few Texas taxpayers take advantage of these new tools — here’s how you can.
Most Texans don’t know how easy it is to file an online property tax protest from home. Here’s how.
Chris Neely, the funniest newspaperman I knew, died in a way that I’ve never gotten over. It's hard to track such infections, and Texas doesn't require that they be reported.
When a roofing company salesman promises a great deal with no money paid out of pocket, warning bells should go off.
Take a quiz about the rights and protections afforded under law and common sense for Texas seniors?
Another update: Samuel L. Caster, who founded Mannatech, the Coppell-based multi-level marketing company that sells nutritional products and dietary pills around the world, has left his company.
A Far North Dallas resident complains that getting no answer from his representative "makes me feel like I don't have a voice in City Hall."
A man says his teeth were pulled, his temporary dentures caused pain and then he was told not to come back.
When my father died and I received his inheritance, I didn’t know what to do with it. So I did nothing.
Here’s how to find money you didn’t know you had coming, scour door-to-door salesmen and verify contractors.
Electricity companies may sell you on low rates but neglect to mention that delivery fees add more to the bill.
Thousands of bits of personal information collected about us can help decide whether we pay more for items, not less.
How 900 StarTex Power electricity customers in Texas are illegally charged more than their contracts allow.
The bank email looks real. But if I click on it and enter my password, my account will be drained and life will stink.
Two weeks after getting the nomination to become a Dallas judge, Staci Williams is fired by a client.
Suppose you buy a car and sign the deal, but when you go pick it up, the dealer won’t give it to you. It happened.
The Dallas Morning News has hired Dave Lieber as its new investigative columnist focusing on wrongdoing and right-doing in businesses and governments. Known largely for his twice weekly 'Watchdog' column in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram for the past 20 years, Dave brings his brand of investigative energy and what he has dubbed "Watchdog Nation common sense" to a twice-a-week column, appearing Fridays and Sundays.
Aside from creating his WatchdogNation.com consumer rights movement, Dave also created his all-volunteer charity, Summer Santa, which provides assistance for impoverished children in North Texas.
"Dave has one of the most trusted voices in North Texas and our newsroom is honored to have him here," said Bob Mong, editor of The Dallas Morning News. "For 20 years, people in Tarrant County knew they had an advocate, someone in their corner to help them solve problems with business or government. We're lucky to have him, and we think readers across the region will feel likewise."
Lieber won the Will Rogers Humanitarian Award in 2002 from the National Society of Newspaper Columnists, for work that "best exemplifies the high ideals of the beloved philosopher-humorist who used his platform for the benefit of his fellow human beings." Lieber is also a sought-after speaker, appearing in front of more than 100 audiences each year.
"Although I was at the Star-Telegram, I have always admired the newsroom, reputation and writers of the Morning News," said Lieber. "Bob [Mong] shared with me the paper's dedication to consumer support and advocacy, which is why I'm thrilled 'The Watchdog' has a new home up the road on I-30."
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As Watchdog Desk Administrator, Trahan Martinez has served on the front line for readers calling for help and as an ambassador for The News. She began as a reporter in 2000 covering law enforcement, city politics and schools at the Arlington Morning News. Since 2001, she has covered 9/11 aviation issues; the second Bush administration’s Holy Land Foundation asset freeze; and the complexities of shale gas collection for The New York Times. She has assisted The News’ investigative team on its Parkland/UT Southwestern coverage and its Unequal Justice series. She occasionally writes a motherhood column for The Dallas Morning News free publication, Briefing.
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