Savvy Consumer column

Date published: 5/18/2008

DESPITE countless warnings that nothing in life is free, many of us continue to fall for the promise of something for nothing.

With money tight in many households, offers of free laptops, iPods, gift cards and even medication sound even more alluring. But the reality is far from the promise.

In the past year, the Federal Trade Commission has charged dozens of companies with violating advertising laws and reached settlements amounting to millions of dollars, said Claudia B. Farrell, a spokeswoman for the Federal Trade Commission.

It's not fair to say that all companies that advertise free products are operating illegally. But even legitimate offers can come with strings attached and fine print that you must read carefully.

You might have heard one radio pitch by a company called I Want My Free Laptop. The ad makes the deal sound so simple. It claims that the company can afford to offer free laptops because all the traffic the giveaway draws to the Web site generates publicity for sponsors.

So I logged onto iwant myfreelaptop.com to find out just how free it is.

The home page is designed to get you excited, asking you to choose which computer brand you want. My choices included a Sony Vaio, Apple MacBook and Toshiba Satellite.

Next, I had to type my e-mail address to continue. Once I finished a marketing survey, I would be on my way to getting my free laptop.

Nearly two hours later, after completing about a half-dozen surveys, I came to a screen that indicated that I had to purchase three products at a discount to continue. When I read the big print, it appeared that I was getting cheap Disney DVDs. But I saw in the fine print that I also was signing up to buy five DVDs a year--for more than $20 each.

I stopped there. I didn't get a free laptop. But I did get other freebies: about 30 e-mail messages a day and daily phones calls from sales people offering to sell me things I had said I liked in the surveys.

You can check the companies out at the FTC (ftc.gov) or Better Business Bureau (bbb.org) Web sites.

And don't ever get blinded by that powerful word: free.

Vicki Lee Parker is a business reporter and financial columnist for The News & Observer in Raleigh, N.C. She can be reached at
Email: vparker@newsobserver.com.

Date published: 5/18/2008