European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - March 6, 1987, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Consumer do it yourself consumer Protection Story by Mary Neth consumer editor americans tend not to listen when Given advice says Michael k. Crookshank. A civilian Legal assistance officer for the . Military Community in Mannheim Germany. He also finds americans Don t protect themselves As Consumers. In the United slates so Many consumer Laws Are on the books that a lot of Protection is Buill in he says tout that is no the Case overseas. There Are firms setting to the military Over Here who Are based in Luxembourg and Liechtenstein making it very Dill cull to take them to court. Also taking a consumer Case through a foreign court can be a Long process members of the military Here for Only a Lew years rarely have the time. Americans must learn to protect themselves no one else  he offers the following guidelines Don t buy irom door to door salesmen. Don l make an instant Purchase of a major item $100 or More irom a Salesman. Think about the Purchase overnight before you buy. Don t sign a contract in a foreign language without having it translated by a Legal assistance attorney who Speaks that language. Don t sign a contract in English without showing ii first to a Legal assistance officer. Crookshank has found americans sometimes Are appallingly naive and Loo willing to sign on the dotted line. He even has had clients who have signed three year contracts Tor German magazines they could t read. The Salesman hands them a paper in German and asks them to sign. He says it is Only to prove to his Boss that he has visited the Home. Of course it really is a sales  he has had other clients who have signed papers committing themselves to expensive automobile repair work even when terms Are  in English they often go unread. One Coupie came to Crookshank crying unfair because a company would not return their whole Down payment when they cancelled a car contract. The terms however were clearly spelled out on the Back Page of the paper they signed. The woman told me but the Salesman did t Tell us to read the Back Page " a Young officer who knew he had Only a two year assignment overseas signed a five year German rent contract. This Man waa a graduate of West Point. If he could do such a thing How can you expect an 18-year-old away from Home Lor the first time to do better besides thinking before jumping into a personal sales Deal Crookshank would like to see americana show More concern for their countrymen. Even though outer apartment House doors in this military Community Are now kept locked door to door salesmen still manage to slip in a says. Though warnings Are issued again and again stating such sales Are prohibited no one bothers to report these salesmen to the military police. "o.k. Go you would t All or a sales pitch at the door. Think of you next door neighbor says Crookshank maybe he would. Get the Salesman s name and Call the maps and Lei them escort him out of the  Crookshank says ii is not unusual for his clients to have purchased big ticket items sight unseen. They buy from a Catalon taking the Salesman s word for the product. For example they say they were Lold the furniture is solid Wood and discover it is not. I Call the company and the Salesman says Well it s solid pressed Wood often too. They take delivery of items that Are not Al All like what they ordered. The sales or delivery Man assures them hell come Back with an Exchange and they believe  Crookshank says Many clients come to see him who Are dissatisfied with expensive Grandfather clocks they have purchased. They pay anywhere up to $3,000 for these clocks attorney Michael Crook Shtyk urges american to be in Nln in butnus dealings and More protective of their countrymen. Which often Don l keep time and Aren t As ordered. Promises Are made and broken that the clock will be fixed or replaced. On top of these problems tie people often Are paying extremely High finance charges. The clock they purchased for $2,000 costs them $3,000." some of Crookshank 9 clients Are in financial trouble because of Loans taken when the Dollar was High. They have been making payment in dollars. Suddenly the German Bank is demanding larger payments. They Don l  Crookshank has to explain hat though they have been paying in dollars the contract they signed was based on Marks. The people who already were in precarious financial shape Are realty hurting  having a particularly difficult Lime he says Are Young members of the military who brought spouses overseas at their own expense. Not sponsored by the military they must pay for their own housing. For come this is costing about half their income. Other couples who though eligible for military housing rented German apartments when the Dollar was High now find they Are trapped. Even if there is military housing available they can t just up and move in Usa eur requires thai a private rental be kept for a minimum of a year before a family can move from ii into military housing. This directive was put out because German landlords Are reluctant to lease to people for Short periods. They were beginning to refuse to rent to americans who they Felt would move out in a matter of months. Generally Hough says Crookshank the people who Are feeling the Pinch of the dropping Dollar Are those who went out when the Dollar was up and bought and spent without thinking. He cites or example the Young private who came to him recently with 33,000 Marks about $18,300 of debt 13.000 of it just for Telephone Calls. If you Gat into such a financial plight Don t think declaring bankruptcy will solve the problem. Foreign debt can t be done away through the . Courts he says beef consumption Down Page 16 the stars and stripes by Don Kendall associated Pressa marketing expert says the average american is eating 26 percent less fat per Day from retail cuts of beef and pork than a decade ago. John a Stanlon of St. Joseph s University in Philadelphia said his Industry sponsored research showed a decline in beef and pork fat consumption from 1977 of More than 70 calories daily for men and 62 calories for women. A consumer group spokeswoman said she had not reviewed the study but cautioned thai such a reduction in consumption still left meat As the leading source of fat in the average american s diet the american Public is eating less meat and the meat Industry seems to be doing everything in us Power to reverse thai decline said Bonnie Liebman director of nutrition for the  Center for science in the Public interest. Liebman added that both the beef and pork industries Nave earmarked millions of dollars to help Friday March 6,1967 increase meat consumption. It would clearly be detrimental to the Public s health if those industries were to succeed in getting people to eat More red meat she said. The study waa released As part of National meat week festivities in mid february organized by the american meal Institute. It is funded by meat packers and processors and other organizations representing Industry farm and livestock groups. One of the goals of the study was to measure the Impact of recant Quarter Inch trim policies followed by Soma retailers who Cut off excess fat from meat and the awareness of Consumers about meat fat consumption. Stanton said the agriculture department s 1977 nationwide food consumption Survey the most recent was used in making the 10-year comparisons. He also conducted a National Survey of food retailers to help determine current fat consumption from retail cuts of beef and pork. High fat consumption can contribute to heart disease and certain kinds of cancer particularly Colon and breast cancer and americans need to Cut Back even further than Stanton s study indicates Cabman said