Jeff on the Job

Thanks for watching Jeff on the Job.  As promised, here is the extra web content we talked about in the show.

The first story we showed you deals with fake jobs and fake checks.  It’s a problem that happens a lot in our area and across the country.  In our story, Denise answered a job from the want ads.   The job required her to be a mystery shopper, rating Western Union and Money Gram.  Her employer sent along a check worth thousands of dollars and instructed Denise to deposit the money then take out cash from her account and then use the cash to send money by Money Gram and Western Union out of the country.  The check even came with a rating form Denise was to fill out.  For her troubles Denise could keep several hundred dollars.  WHAT A DEAL!  But when Denise went to cash the big check an alert teller noticed it was a fake.  If Denise had cashed it, Denise could have faced charges of fraud, her bank would have placed a hold on her account once the fake check was discovered and Denise would be out all the money she sent by Western Union.  The paper has pulled the ad, but be warned, NEVER deposit a check from anyone you don’t know who wants you to send them money by Western Union or Money Gram.

www.fakechecks.org

There are real work at home opportunities for people, here are some resources:

http://consumerblog.abc13.com/work_at_home/index.html

In our second story, Charlie Zaid found someone living in a home he was trying to sell.  The Southwest Houston home was listed on the market for sale, but someone broke in, got the locks changed and then rented out the home under false pretenses.  The renter gave the fake landlord more than a thousand dollars up front and even signed a contract that was three pages long.  After the scam was uncovered, the renter had to move out and get this, within days a second renter showed up who also fell for the scam.  Both victims found the home listed for rent on Craig’s List, that ad has since been removed.  Here are a few tips for renters, if you are renting home, check out the realtor at www.har.com to make sure they are registered locally, and remember, the lease for a home is 14 pages long!

Next we showed you the scourge that is SMELLY TOWELS!  Hey, don’t laugh it’s happening all over the country.  We spoke with a Katy woman who had the problem and who found a solution.  The cause is mold and mildew growing in your machine.  The solution Joyce Pelley discovered is here:

http://www.smellywasher.com/

The next story was real fun to shoot.  It’s about converting a gas powered car to run just off of electricity.   Steve Kobb’s project will turn a Chevy S-10 into an “E” car.  For all of you who dream of saying “good bye” to gas, but are not mechanically sound, take heart.  Steve says it’s the network of electric car owners around Houston who have helped him through out the project.  They can help you too!  Check them out here.  Kobb will have about $20,000 in his truck when it's all done and like most conversions, the S-10 will have a top speed of 60 mph and have a range of about 40 miles.  There are S-10 conversion kits available, but to see what others did, check out the e-v album main site.  Look at conversions here.  If you would like to see links and tips for converting car or truck, check out the link here.

Up next, getting what you pay for at the gas pump. 

If you feel that you are getting ripped off at the gas pump you are not alone.  This year the Texas Department of Agriculture has received nearly two thousand complaints about gas station pumps.   That's twice as many as the year before.  About one third of those complaints lead to inspectors discovering a problem at the pump.

   The state maintains a web site that lists every service station with a problem.

   Click here to see if your corner store is on the list!

   Follow the link to the HTML option and check out the stations that had issues.

  If you want to complain about a service station, call the Texas Department of Agriculture at 1-800-TELL-TDA.

If you are looking to save some money, but still have the urge to buy things, check out the resale shops. There are several that offer all kinds of clothing, house hold items, and even furniture.   Workers tell us business is booming.  From buyer to sellers, people are taking advantage of the services the shops provide.  While you can find a resale shop just about anywhere, there is an area of midtown that has several nice shops, here they are:

Assistance League of Houston, 1902 Commonwealth (713) 526-5425.  10am to 3pm  Wed.-Sat. 

Charity Guild Shop of Catholic Women, 1203 Lovett (713) 529-0995.  10am to 3pm Mon.-Sat

Cottage Thrift Shop 607 Westheimer (713) 526-4663.   10am-4pm Mon.-Sat.

Blue Bird Circle Resale Shop 615 W. Alabama (713) 528-0470. 10am-4pm Mon.-Fri.

Salvation Army Thrift Store 2208 Washington (713) 425-8727.  10am-8pm Mon.-Sat.

The Guild Shop 2998 Dunlavy (713) 528-5095. 9:30am-3:30pm Mon.-Fri.  10am-2pm Sat.

Houston Area Women's Center 1435 Westheimer (713) 528-1062. 10am-4:45pm  Tues.-Sat.

Methodist Auxiliary Thrift Shop 1721 Waugh (713) 522-4494.  10am-3pm Mon., Tues., Wed., Fri., & Sat.

St. Vincent DePaul Thrift Resale Stores (713) 862-2605.  9am-5pm Tues.-Sat.

The next story was about free paint.  The City of Houston Recycling program collects paint and gives it away for free.  The City of Houston has an Environmental Service Center at 11500 South Post Oak at South Main Street.  There you can drop off unused paint, fertilizer, lawn care products, cleaners and other household chemicals.  The stuff that's left is sorted, the good from the bad, then the reusable items are put on a shelf for anyone to take for free.   The center gives away hundreds of gallons of paint a month and we saw enough lawn care products to keep your yard green and healthy without ever spending a dime.   Check out the times they are open by going to the Center's web site :

http://www.houstontx.gov/solidwaste/esc-south.html 

or call them at 713-551-7355.

If you do not live in Houston, you can still drop off and claim reused items, however the staff asks that you get a voucher from Harris County before arriving.  To get a voucher, call 713-290-3000.   You can still go to the center without a voucher, but having one in hand speeds up the process.

From paint to plant food, why buy when you can get it for free?

The last story on this edition of Jeff on the Job is one of our most popular.  We visited Southwest Surplus and found armoires, chairs, desks, tables, sofas, lights, and mirrors.  Right now the shop has stuff from the Houstonian, the Warwick, and the Doubletree.  The warehouse is located off of I-45 North.  Here's their web site: http://www.swsurplus.com/

Thanks again for watching Jeff on the Job, it is a great deal of fun to put the show together and extremely rewarding when someone is able to use the information we provide.

I would like to thank all the photographers and editors who helped make the show, I hope you enjoyed it!

See you at 4:55!

Jeff

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