Newsroom Extra Blog

A first for 6 On Your Side

admin — Wed, 21 May 2008 12:14:17 -0400

Earlier this month, a concerned son called 6 On Your Side with a complaint about the wheelchair he had picked up for his mother.

Andrew Byrd got the chair at a Sevierville medical equipment company, but, he said, it was in bad repair, dirty, and totally unacceptable.

This was new territory for a 6 On Your Side story because it involves complicated federal and state rules, standards for medical equipment companies, as well as HIPPA guidelines that protect patient confidentiality.

Despite its complexity, I felt viewers could learn from the June Byrd's story.

Are you fighting a losing battle with your lawn?

admin — Fri, 16 May 2008 18:22:16 -0400

When I saw an "as seen on TV" product called Patch Perfect it seemed like something we should try out for our next "Real Deal" test.

In advertising it claims to be like "grass seed on steroids." It costs $19.95 a bag.

Thanks to our climate, the recent drought, and tough Tennessee clay, growing grass can be difficult.

What's the best way to save money at the pump?

admin — Thu, 15 May 2008 18:01:49 -0400

These days, you want to find any way you can to save money at the pump. You've probably heard a variety of tips on ways to do that.

We started taking a look at some of those tips a few weeks ago, but unfortunately, we found that most of them turned out to be more fiction than fact.

You can find our past reports here and here.

Tell us about your bad experiences with home improvement salesmen

admin — Tue, 13 May 2008 18:53:57 -0400

When a salesman comes to your home and asks you to sign an agreement, you have to place a certain amount of trust with that person. But what happens when the salesman fails to live up to that trust?

A few weeks ago, Brian and Carol Horner called 6 On Your Side to say they're angry at a local home improvement company. They said they agreed to allow a door-to-door salesman for American Home Improvements into their home in Halls to talk about buying new siding.

The salesman told Brian and Carol the siding would normally cost $24,000, but he could offer it to them at half the price.

Does Oxiclean work like Billy Mays says it does?

admin — Sat, 10 May 2008 12:54:23 -0400

We're going back to the basics to test our next product in our "Real Deal" series, in which we test products advertised on TV.

We're testing Oxiclean. If the product isn't familiar to you, its pitchman likely is. Billy Mays has endorsed it and countless items for years. We have tested some of those products in the past.

Will making your house "green" save you money?

admin — Thu, 08 May 2008 18:15:00 -0400

Green building is the newest hype nationwide, but there's little mention of it here in East Tennessee.

With a good amount of research, I found two builders, Mike Dulin and Fred Trainer, beginning to use environmentally-friendly building concepts and materials in several of their homes.

In fact, Fred introduced me to a young Knoxville couple he's building a "green" home for.

Making a profit with foreclosed homes

admin — Wed, 07 May 2008 18:33:06 -0400

When you open up the newspaper or drive down the street, they are unavoidable. Foreclosed homes.

But many of these homes are being snatched up, fixed up, and sold.

We wondered if the Knoxville area was a good market to flip houses and make a profit. We also wondered what skills or resources someone would need to do this.

I interviewed Kevin Fine, who is a third-shift manager at a pharmacy full-time and flips houses on the side. He works one week on and one week off, so he has spare time to fix up foreclosed homes.

Getting to the bottom of a credit card mess

admin — Tue, 06 May 2008 21:00:16 -0400

Their advertising says they're the "perfect bank" to help people restore credit. Have you ever received an offer like that in the mail?

Tammy Kirby, from Greenback, called last week to tell me how a simple $150 credit card bill had exploded to over $400.

What makes her mad – she's really ticked – is that she paid the bill, yet her credit card company, Orchard Bank, held her cashier's check for 17 days, forcing extra charges.

Campbell County commissioner says mayor needs to do his job

admin — Mon, 05 May 2008 18:08:37 -0400

A Campbell County commissioner says funding set aside for the animal shelter is not being used.

Commissioner Adrion Baird says the county budgeted more than $80,000 in 2007 to hire an animal control officer and purchase a new vehicle. He says county Mayor Jerry Cross is in control of the money, but so far hasn't spent a dime.

We spent the day in Campbell County talking to Commissioner Baird about the situation.

Push-up Pro: Does it work?

admin — Fri, 02 May 2008 19:08:52 -0400

After testing just a few "As Seen on TV" products, we have gotten dozens of suggestions on what product to test next.

This time it was a testimonial from someone in our own newsroom that prompted us to test the Push-up Pro.

My co-worker touted the product as a big success, but what would the experts say?