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Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine's Tips for Consumers in the New Year

photo of money
JO INGLES
/
STATEHOUSE NEWS BUREAU
Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine says that gift cards should be spent right away and that gym contracts should be thoroughly checked as the new year approaches.

If you are thinking about joining a gym, returning an unwanted holiday gift or changing companies you do business with in this new year, Ohio’s Attorney General has some advice for you.

Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine says if you join a gym, read the fine print. The contract generally shouldn’t last longer than three years and you’ll have three days to cancel if you want.

He says don’t wait to use gift cards. They can get lost, lose value and the business could close its doors before you use it.

DeWine says check return policies for unwanted gifts to save time and frustration.

If you want to work with a new company, he urges you to check for complaints with his office or the Better Business Bureau.

It’s also a good time to review bank accounts, update online passwords and check your credit report. And under a new law, you can now freeze your credit or your child’s to protect from identity theft.

Jo Ingles is a professional journalist who covers politics and Ohio government for the Ohio Public Radio and Television for the Ohio Public Radio and Television Statehouse News Bureau. She reports on issues of importance to Ohioans including education, legislation, politics, and life and death issues such as capital punishment. Jo started her career in Louisville, Kentucky in the mid 80’s when she helped produce a televised presidential debate for ABC News, worked for a creative services company and served as a general assignment report for a commercial radio station. In 1989, she returned back to her native Ohio to work at the WOSU Stations in Columbus where she began a long resume in public radio.