i )m consumer investigator chris chmura. nbc bay area responds, next. when yyou. consumer investigator chris chmura has some highlights from new success stories plus how much money we got back for people. this week, our team pushed past the $1.6 million dollar mark in the total amount of money we have recovered for bay area consumers! here are just a few of the viewers we )ve recently helped: (yumi in san francisco... she was getting parking tickets at a train station -- even though she has a parking permit. we got it fixed. yumi got back 55 bucks. ( (mike in san jose. he contacd us when he ran into trouble getting a microwave repaired. we talked to the retailer, and mike got a check for 350 dollars to (replace the broken unit. ( ( (and kelly in los gatos. se told us about a medical bill mix- up after a mammogram. when we got in touch with the clinic, it agreed to waive a 164- dollar charge. speaking of medical bills... a reminder that nbc-owned tv stations are working with a charity to buy up and forgive as much as $20 million dollars in medical debt. ( ( the cha

i'm nbc bay area chris chmura. >>> authorities said more than 1,500 pounds of meth was captured while it was on its way to malaysia. >>> and one elephant is dead and two were hurt after the vehicle carrying them crashed. the highway was closed while authorities lifted the two elephants. more after the break. celebratinr on the west coast - with lots >>> all new this morning the giants are giving give aways. that includes a willie mays bobblehead. that's a big old bobblehead. one thing our crew did find and love, a mount crushmore statue. our special opening day coverage continues all morning long. is it marvel or marvel. >> marvel. >> i wasn't a comic book kid. >>> this one. nbc bay area responds to a morganville man when they say he was floored when his online purchase began to deteriorate. >> chris chmura is here with more. >> he paid $379 to buy this rug right here and that is a close-up. you can see the problem. chris says the edges started to fray and this is a 5-inch diameter hole that opened up right in the middle of the rug. both of those things happened within the first four

a san jose woman had issues with not one but two of the deals. >> here's chris chmura. >> good morning, cynthia pilgrim bought two show tickets on groupon, advertised a 7:00 p.m. start time and even printed on cynthia's receipt. but when she arrived before 7:00, the event was over. it actually had started at 3:00 in the afternoon. unfortunately cynthia's luck did not improve. she had also bought a restaurant deal on groupon. when she arrived, she found the restaurant was closed for good. cynthia says she asked groupon to refund both items but didn't get anywhere. so she turned to us for help. we contacted groupon and refunded cynthia $116 exactly what she paid for the two deals. groupon also gave her a $100 credit. in a statement groupon said we want our customers to have an amazing experience every time they use a groupon or we'll work with them to make it right. these pre-paid deals via third party can save you money but adding that middle man can also create problems. just ask cynthia. so before you buy in, make one call to the actual provider, just to be sure everything is in order

i'm consumer investigator chris chmura. nbc bay area responds next. >>> but at 4:48 space x is not the only company making headlines. virgin galactic completes the first supersonic flight of a spacecraft, the first flight test of the virgin galactic spacecraft since the crash of the spaceshipent prize back in 2014. >>> and hamilton star lin-manuel miranda has shingles and quarantines from his eight-week old son. his doctor has blurred his eyes and he's wearing a mask. shingles is a viral disease that causes a painful rash. we are more -- we are back with more news right after the break. >>> on your friday morning we continue to follow the weather. right now taking a look out at fremont as you could see a lot of people on the wet roads which are experiencing across the bay area this morning. >> and if you need to head out this morning, do give yourself extra time, the roadways are very sloppy. vianey is tracking those and we have heard of a couple of solo spinouts meaning people just going too fast for the conditions. >> goi

i'm chris chmura, nbc bay area responds next. will premiere at cannes. >> but first happening now -- the government officials accuse the film of quote, clear intent to promote lesbianism, in kenya gay sex can be punished by up to 14 years in prison. >>> first, amazon is building personal robots that will roll out next year. the robots will have sensors that let you move around the house or allow it to move around the house and will connect to your alexa. no word on how much this will actually cost. more news after the break. scalpel scalpel taco! taco! are you one of the millions of americans whose love for jack in the box tacos has turned into an obsession? no tacos here. hi. i'm jack box and i'm here to help. by giving the taco obsessed what they need most. even more tacos. introducing my $3 taco deal with three of the tacos you love and a refreshing drink for just three bucks. so if you have a taco obsession... clear! taco! taco! ...don't beat it, feed it. by living off the grid. completely. or... just set the washing machine

i'm chris chmura.bay area responds next. >> she's the lady that told people to put a ring on it. hundreds of her fans are going to be at a mass in san francisco where church goers sing the superstar songs during worship. but why and where did this idea come from? we'll meet the people behind it coming up. >>> first happening now at 4:51, a developing story, russia says it has a tomahawk cruise missile sen studying it to approve their own defenses. a russian official says an unexploded missile is in moscow after being found in syria. the department of defense is denying that report. >>> video games at the olympics? paris 2024 are deep in talks about including esports at the games. competitive video gaming is getting a pretty big push. more news after the break. you could save energy by living off the grid. completely. you could generate your own energy, at home. maybe you could save energy by weaving your own shoes... out of flax. or... just set the washing machine to cold. do your thing, with energy up

i'm consumer investigator chris chmura. nbc bay area responds next. >> san francisco bay's wells fargo just lost a huge account. the american federation of teachers said told nearly 2 million members to go somewhere else for mortgages. the teacher's union wanted wells fargo to cut ties or pose new restrictions on firearm businesses. right now more than 20,000 fe h teachers have mortgages with wells fargo already. more news after the break. hola amigos. for the first time ever, cholua hot sauce is teaming up with jack in the box. america's fav... whoa!! ok, a little hot sauce there... jack! i'm trying to film this commercial! oh. sorry. sorry. please continue. as i was saying... the cholula buttery jack has delicious cholula hot sauce, crispy jalapeños, and pepper jack cheese on a signature bun. you know what? this would be great on fries, too. what is wrong with you jack? oh my gosh. sorry. so sorry. the new cholula buttery jack. part of the buttery jack family. ai dios mio, jack! i'm. seriously. i said i was sorry. >>> tak

. >> looking to twitter right now with, well, this word from nbc bay area consumer chris chmura. e thought the pricing was high. he writes, is this a typo? 680. mike? he tagged us. chris, indeed, the pricing is up there pretty high but that's what's called congestion pricing enit's a dollar a mile from section. the cost of getting through traffic up there. but of course, that's what the consumer guy does. chris is our responds person here. he's gone to save folks $1 million around the world and then wanted to make sure he was charged the right price. >> he was in the fast lane? >> considering it. it was too much for him so i think he chose wisely and just took time to get up to the walnut creek interchange. you can do that thanks to friend chris and a reminder for friends out there to help us via twitter, messaging, e-mail, instagram, snapchats. we have twitter and get it. >> we are on social media. >> check nbc bay area.com out there, too. >> exactly. >>> coming up, breaking news, bill cosby found guilty. we are live outside of that courtroom with the latest. -cosbe counts of agg

i'm chris chmura. nbc bay area responds next. hat the y-w-c-a )s tribute to >>> get the concealer out, this was worth being tired for, i had a great time at the ypca tribute to women award. i tweeted about it this morning. follow me @ lauragarcianbc. you're watching "today in the bay." nbc bay area responds teams g >>> 6:25 this morning, over the past two years our nbc bay area responds team has gotten more than 9,000 complaints. we've helped a lot of hard working people right here in the bay area get back what's rightfully theirs. >> we're talking about money. here's consumer investigator chris chmura with recent cases thaif cloegsed. >> she found herself in a dispute with a time share company and they weren't terminating her contract despite an disagreement signed three years earlier. she immediately got a phone call plus $11,000 back. >> bridget returned dietary supplements by mail but the business didn't give the refund she was promised. we reached out to the seller and she got $266. we helped kastre get $700. had to wait for

i'm chris chmura. the problems s the victims of the north bay fires... nbc bay area responds... consumer investigator chris chmura is here to explain >>> six months later, the problems still continue for the victims of the fires. >> why some people feel stuck because of insurance company paperwork and it is so confusing. >> it just goes on and on and on. some fire victims say their recovery is on hold because of an almost insurmountable task. we're talking about people had lost their homes and everything inside. they say they can't get 100% of their insurance money unless they verify every item that burned a detailed written inventory. >> i think all of it is unnecessary. it would have been such a relief if the insurance company just came in and said, okay, we'll give you this. there's no moving forward. >> families who can barely afford to rebuild told us they stand to lose tens of thousands of dollars. tonight at 11:00, an unexpected outpouring when we met with fire victims who all have the same insurance company. also, we investigate whether state law actually requires an ite

i'm investigator chris chmura. nbc bay area responds, next. tak downtown sj from communications hill >>> your time now is 7:28. it is april 1st, 2018, easter sunday. a live look right now at downtown san jose from our camera on top of communications hill, looking to be an absolutely beautiful spring day out there. thank you so much for waking up with us, good morning. i'm vicky nguyen. meteorologist rob mayeda is here with the microclimate forecast. it's beautiful out there. >> it was like a summertime microclimate forecast yesterday, with almost 80 inland. today it will be cooler. mid-40s to start things off in santa rosa, chilly in livermore. you see the fog in the north bay. visibilities in a few spots at a quarter mile. hour by hour for easter sunday, hazy sunshine. upper 60s around the bay, mid-70s inland today with lots of sunshine to go around. pretty comfortable temperatures, still slightly above average today. and it looks like the workweek will start off similarly. then as we go through the second half of the week, there's a potentia

i'm consumer investigators chris chmura. nbc bay area responds next. morg floored when his online purchase began to deteriorate. so, he called us. consumer investigator chris chmura is here with how nbc bay area responds to a morgan hills man who said he was floored with how his floor was deteriorating. >> reporter: chris and his girl flenld paid hayneedle.com $75 to buy this rug right here. that is a close-up. you can see the problem. chris said the edges started to fray and this is a 5-inch diameter hole that opened up in the middle of the rug. both those things happened in first four months. haynightle says you may return most eligible items for whatever reason 30 days from the date of delivery. well, it has been 120 days here, so chris said the company only offered a 40% discount off a new rug. chris says hayneedle should have done more to address its quality concerns, so he wrote us. we contacted the company and within a week hayneedle did things. it offered chris a full $379 refund and let him keep that rug and the 40% off coupon. in a statement

i'm consumer investigator chris chmura. nbc bay area responds next. it's layered with a slice of smooth, perfectly melty, white cheddar cheese. a crunchy medley of tasty, crispy garlic chips... a dramatic drizzle of smooth, delicious and flavorful, delectably creamy garlic aioli... all coming together with a mouthwateringly juicy tomato slice and crisp iceberg lettuce atop crispy buttermilk chicken on a soft, warm artisan roll. (breath) luckily, you can take all the time you need to savor every bite. the signature crafted recipes collection, by mcdonald's. by living off the grid. completely. you could generate your own energy, at home. maybe you could save energy by weaving your own shoes... out of flax. or... just set the washing machine to cold. do your thing, with energy upgrade california. >>> of course we do this story right at dinner time. shake shack announcing yet another restaurant location here in the bay area. shake shack is an upscale east coast burger joint started in new york city. this is what the san francisco location look like right

here is consumer investigator chris chmura. >> good morning. cynthia pilgrim bought two show tickets on groupon. it advertising a 7:00 p.m. start time and even printed on the receipt. but when she arrived, before 7:00, the event was over. it actually had started at 3:00 in the afternoon. unfortunately her luck did not improve. she had also bought a restaurant deal on groupon, when she arrived she found that the restaurant was closed -- for good. she said she asked groupon to refund both items. but didn't get anywhere. so she turned to us for help. we contacted groupon and it refunded her $116. exactly what she paid for the two deals. groupon also gave her a $100 credit. in a statement groupon said we want our customers to have an amazing experience every time they use a groupon or we'll work with them to make it right. these prepaid deals via third party can save you money. but adding that middle man can also create problems. just ask cynthia. so before you buy in, make one call to the actual provider. just to be sure everything is in order. if

i'm consumer investigator chris chmura. a recap is next. corporate red ta responds.viewers like you. >>> welcome back. when you are wrapped up in corporate red tape, nbc bay area responds to viewers like you. >> chris chmura has highlights from the success story and how much money we got back for people. >> good morning. this week our team pushes past the $1.6 million mark in the total amount of money we've recovered for bay area consumers like you. here are just a few of the viewers we've help the. this person in san francisco was getting parking tickets at a train station even though she has a parking permit and we got it fixed and she got $55 back. and mike in san jose ran into trouble getting a microwave repaired and we talked to the retailer and he got a check for $350 to completely replace that broken unit. and kelly in los gatos told us about a medical bill mix-up after a mammogram. when we got in touch with the clinic, it agreed to wave a $165 charge. speaking of medical bills. a reminder that nbc and tv stations are working with a charity to buy up and forgi

i'm consumer investigator chris chmura. nbc bay area responds next. >>> and so busy, kris sanchez played seam stress working on costumes fo s for her daughter' play. why kris she's thankful to her mom. the time is 6:21. you're watching "today in the bay." nbc bay area responds. to groupon deals gone wrong! a san jose woman says s >>> 6:24, quts nbc bay area area responds to groupon deals gone wrong. >> our response team got right on it. >> here's chris chmura. >> good morning. cynthia pilgrim bought two show tickets on groupon, advertised a 7:00 p.m. start time, even printed on cynthia's receipt. but when she arrived before 7:00, the event was over. it actually had started at 3:00 in the afternoon. unfortunately cynthia's luck did not approve. she bought a restaurant deal and found the restaurant closed for good. cynthia says looking to refund both items but didn't get anywhere. >> we contacted groupon and it refunded cynthia $116 exactly what she paid for the two deals and groupon also gave her a $100 credit. in a statemen

chris chmura will be on the nbc float. there will be a slight chance of rain but i think the rain will be early in the day. rain chances tapering off as we go into that main parade time. a mix of sun and clouds. temperatures that day reaching into the low 60s and we'll have some sunshine for the rest of the afternoon. if going to pacific coast dream machine, half moon bay sunday. wrapping up the weekend seeing cool cars and airplanes. cool there, upper 50s throughout the weekend and a mix of sun and clouds at half moon bay. if you're hitting the road maybe going to sierra, here is a look at that forecast. there will be a slight chance of snow on sunday. doesn't look like it will be a heavy snowmaker. as you're coming back from sierra, you may have issues getting home. look at our forecast for saturday, 36 degrees with a mix of sun and clouds. going to l.a., cool, highs in the mid-60s but there will be some sunshine. i'll have a look at today's temperature trend for san jose coming up in 30 minutes. >> sounds good. thanks s

i'm chris chmura and nbc bay area responds next. the savings are in full bloom at ross. if you're looking for an incredible selection of the brands you love, this season's newest trends for a fraction of what you'd pay at department stores, ♪ you gotta go to ross ross is going all out... all outdoors that is. you'll find everything you need to make your outdoor space your favorite place. and if you want it all for a fraction of what you'd pay elsewhere, you gotta go to ross. approachin >>> welcome back, everyone. happening now, tax deadline quickly approaching and scammers are taking advantage. and pg&e are saying people are posing as employees and asking for personal financial information. the irs said scammers take advantage of tax season to try to steal information ahead of the tax line. some scammers are telling customers they could be eligible for a tax refund if they give up information like their social security number. don't do it. and thousands file their taxes and sophisticated crooks look to steal from hard-working taxpayers. >> and that is why chris chmura co

consumer investigator chris chmura explains. >> good morning.he big culprit here is the big tax law congress passed back in december. and it could make a big difference in how much you owe or get back when you file your taxes next year. okay, just a few of the new rules here. first, the personal exemption has been eliminated but the standard deduction is nearly doubled. child tax credit doubled for each qualified child and now up to $2,000. the tax brackets by the way, those are lowered but they are also wider. and here is a big change for us in california. the itemized deduction for state and local taxes which include your property tax is capped at $10,000. bottom line, the time to start planning for tax day 2019 is now. >> you want to avoid a big surprise next year because of all of the big changes that happened this year and you have time this year -- you have the whole year to do it. >> tonight at 6:00, we'll take a closer look at that big surprise you might face if you are not properly prepared. we want to hear from you about your tax troub

i'm consumer investigator chris chmura. nbc bay area responds next. >>> and bob redell is trying to tame a new shelter dog he has. look at the video, onyx, attempting to jail break. the family still loves him. by the way, an exciting announcement, our big clear the shelters event, that's coming up on the 18th and you'll see it there, that's august 18th. and you don't want to miss that. we'll be there having a great time. you're watching "today in the bay." fremont man who said a groy store was selling "expired" food. >>> nbc bay area responds to a fremont man who said a grocery store was selling expired food. >> consumer investigator chris chmura zeroed in on the label and has more. >> good morning, that particular food was bought two weeks after the date on the label but as we looked into it deeper, we found more consumer confusion than anything else. we spoke with several food experts and two federal regulators and they told us most date labels on food or voluntary and intended to tell you about quality. most food is safe

i'm consumer investigator chris chmura and nbc bay area responds, next. del monte man wh the web and found a popular search engine owed him money. . >>> nbc bay area responds to a dell monty man who is searching the web and found a popular search engine owed him money. but he was having trouble getting paid so he reached out to our responds team for help. here is consumer investigator chris chmura. >> gary was digging through the state's unclaimed money website when he found a surprise. small one. google owed him a whole $12.06 for unredeemed gift certificates. so he contacted google to collect his $12.06 and they agreed to pay him but he had to set up a google wallet first. well gary said he created the wallet but never got his money. so he asked hus for help. we contacted google and it straightened out the situation right away and sent him a check for $12.06. gary was smart to search the state's unclaimed property data base and you should do it too. run a search from time to time for yourself and even your business. we just searched the data base for nb

i'm chris chmura and nbc bay area responds, next. victims of y wildfires. ...on the six month anniversary of the destructive >>> welcome back. nbc bay area responds to the victims of the north bay wildfires. on the sixth month anniversary of the fire storm. >> chris chmura explains why people are feeling stuck because of insurance company paperwork. >> good morning. some fire victims complained to us that the recovery is on hold. because of an almost insurmountab insurmountab insurmountable task. >> after people lost their homes and everything inside. they can't get 100% of the insurance money unless they verify every item that burned with a detailed written inventory. >> no, i think all of it is unnecessary because it would have been a relief if the insurance company just came in and said we'll give you this and we're done and now you can move forward. there is no moving forward. >> families that can barely afford to rebuild told us they stand to lose tens of thousands of dollars. tonight at 11:00, an unexpected outpouring when we m

chris chmura will be out there and you'll be able to see the former san francisco giant noah lowery onhe nbc bay area float. watch out in lake shas at a, there could be storm chances there, highs reaching in the upper 50s and low 60s all weekend long. you can enjoy clear weather if you're going to monterey. it will be up to 60 degrees on saturday and sunday 59 degrees. let's head out of town to yosemite. it's going to reach in the 40s with no worries as you get there and back. a mix of sun and clouds throughout the weekend. we'll take a look at today's temperature trend for palo alto, coming up on the other side of the break. >> thanks so much, kari. coming up next, a side effect of a wet winter, the new on is a k cals firefighters are fighting and how you can help them up. >>> moore trouble for president trump in court. we'll bring you the latest. to move california forward, we need to help more californians get ahead. that's why antonio villaraigosa brought both parties together to balance the state budget with record investments in public schools... and new career training programs.

i'm chris chmura, nbc bay area responds next. fremont man says y store was selling "expired" food. >>> when you head to the grocery store, you want it fresh and ready to eat, right. >> i would say so. >> a man said the grocery store was selling expired food. so he called our investigative unit. >> chris chmura zeroed in on the label. chris. >> good morning. that particular food was bought two weeks after the date on the label. but as we looked into it deeper, we found more consumer confusion than anything else. we spoke with several food experts and two federal regulators. they told us most date labels on food are voluntary to tell you about quality and most food is actually safe to eat well after the date on the label. >> so a lot of people confuse quality and safety. and that is a big problem. >> tonight at 11:00, the surprising silence in federal law. plus the massive amount of waste caused by confused shoppers. and also explaining the changes you'll see in supermarkets that might actually cut your grocery bill starting this s

i'm consumer investigator chris chmura. nbc bay area responds next. ork h the warriors and pg-and-e yesterday. it)s >>> and i got a chance to work with the warriors and pg&e yesterday, this is an effort to promote stem education in the south bay at the african-american community service agency. they actually built these solar back packs and going to send the kids in kenya and actually repainted a room with those volunteers there helping out. get a sneak peek of all of that going on and i did a facebook live of that. marcus washington, finds me and join the conversation. 6:22, you're watching "today in the bay." nbc bay area responds n jose woman who was left hot under the collar after she received her recent p-g-and-e bill. it was more than (double ( what >>> 6:24, a san jose woman was left hot under the color after a recent pg&e bill double what she normally pays. >> when her usage charges didn't add up she contacted us, here's chris chmura. >> good morning. dawn o'brien said she was shocked to get an electric bill for $453 over the summer. consideri

i'm consumer investigator chris chmura and nbc bay area responds, next. mom you called? oh hi sweetie, i just want to show you something. xfinity mobile: find my phone. [ phone rings ] look at you. this tech stuff is easy. [ whirring sound ] you want a cookie? it's a drone! i know. find your phone easily with the xfinity voice remote. one more way comcast is working to fit into your life, not the other way around. >>> 6:24 now. we have just learned four-hour delays for arriving flights at sfo because of the wind and rain. take a look at the radar. it is not a surprise. >> well nbc bay area responds to billing mistakes all of the time. some of the biggest involve medical bills. >> big ones, too. consumer investigator chris chmura is here and the steps tv stations are helping to combat medical debt. >> reporter: mistakes on medical bills are rampant. the personal finance site nerd wallet did research. it studied thousands of bills and found errors on 49% of them. where there were mistakes, charges were 26% higher than they were supposed to be. so what do you do about? you

chris chmura is here with the story. >> good morning. winston dye spent $2,500 on a ge refrigerator with a built in brewing system and the day after the delivery it was leaking and not dispensing hot water as advertising. ge repairman concluded it was missing a tube so he ordered one. but when the technic came back to install he realized there wasn't a tube missing after all. at that point, winston said he and the repairman teamed up to guess their way around fixing the problem. working together they shortened the tube and repositioned it. and that seemed to correct the problem. now hot water dispensed properly and the leaking stopped. but winston was worried that that problem might resurface after his warranty expired. he said he tried to raise that issue with ge and got nowhere and so he reached out to us. and we called and extended h hisser -- his parts and labor for a year and he said he wouldn't get that response on his own. in a statement ge said they make quality appliances but if a owner does have an issue, it strives to remedy i

i'm chris chmura, nbc bay area responds next. trade-in your apps >>> but first happening now, today is your last day to trade in your apple products to help the planet. the giveback program allows you to turn in your old iphones or ipads or ipods for a gift card. apple also donates to the environment group conservation international for every device. plus, the steam boat guys in yellowstone national park letting off a little steam. it erupts three times in the past six weeks and it's a huge spike in activity. sometimes it's believed that the geyser might be relieving pressure through smaller eruptions rather than one big event. more news after the break. park giants face the padres tonight at 7. >>> good monday morning, look at that at&t park. giants facing the padres at 7:00. should be a nice game. bring a sweat shirt, it's cold out there. >> the next story will make you go -- a fremont man says a grocery store was selling expired food so he called on our investigative unit. >> zeroed in on the label. >> good morning, that parti

i'm consumer investigator chris chmura, nbc bay area responds next. >> one inmate dead and 11 others are being treated for an overdose at a northern california prison. investigators are trying to figure out how drugs are being smuggled into mule creek state prison. prison cells are being cleaned by hazmat teams. >>> a man suspected of setting a deadly fire in china is arrested. that fire at a three-story building killed 18 people. the suspect that set that fire to a karaoke parlor after getting into an argument with someone. more news after the break. jose under the collar after she >>> nbc bay area responds to a san jose woman who was left hot under the color after she received her recent pg&e bill and it was more. >> she did the math and when the charges didn't add up she contacted us. >> good morning, dawn o'brien said she was shocked to get an electric bill for $453 over the summer. considering she usually pays about $200 per month. she says pg&e told her that's just how much power she used during the month according to her meter. that didn't make any sense to dawn. she doesn't h

consumer investigator chris chmura explains. >>> the big culprit here is the big tax law congress passed back in december. and it could make a big difference in how much you owe or get back when you file your taxes next year. just a few of the new rules here. the pefrnl exception has been eliminated but the standard deduction has been nearly doubled. the child tax credit doubled for each qualified child. now up to $2,000. the tax brackets by the way, those are lowered a little bit but they are also wider. and here's a big change for us in california. the itemized deduction for state and local taxes which includes your property tax is capped at $10,000. bottom line, the time to start planning for tax day 2019 is now. >> you want to avoid a big surprise next year because of all of the big changes that happen this year. and you have time this year, whole year to do it. >> we'll look at that big surprise you might face if you're not properly prepared. we want to hear from you about your tax trouble or any other consumer problem. please call us 888-996-tips or nbcbayarea.com/responds. >> than

consumer investigator chris chmura is here with a myriad of problems, chris. >> good evening, jess andwe had heard there are people who have state farm insurance who are having difficulty getting their claims paid in full. we had heard they created a group online. so together with our sister station, telemundo 48, we extended an open invitation to meet members of that group one weekend. the response overwhelmed us. saturdays at first united methodist in santa rosa are normally sleepy. but this saturday, seats fill up fast. >> we had 130 people here today. >> today the church is packed. people and heartache. >> please raise your hand if you lost everything. that's everybody. >> reporter: everyone here lost their home in the wildfires. everyone here has state farm insurance, and everyone here says they feel state farm is short-changing them. >> who got everything out of their insurance policy they expected? that's nobody. >> reporter: here's why. they say state farm is requiring them to do a detailed item by item inventory of the contents of their home in order to get 100% of their cover

. >> our consumer investigator chris chmura with three questions everyone needs to ask tonight. >> yeah, just three for now. right? there are probably more. we're going to settle on three. everything we're going to talk about now has to do with preparation and getting yourself ready because most people whose homes burned in the fires only had a few minutes to evacuate. question one, do you have a go bag? no, not an empty bag that you'd pack in a hurry like that one right there that's empty. no, no, do you have a bag of essentials that is packed and ready to go right now? if i told you you had to evacuate this second? you answered no, you got some work to do. please build a bag that has enough basics to get you by for a night or two until shelters open. question two, is your insurance adequate? after the fires, lots of people told us they discovered they were underinsured. and did not have enough coverage to fully rebuild. so do the math now. call your insurance agent tomorrow. figure out what you really need versus what you currently have. all right. question three. do you have a home i

consumer investigator, chris shah mu chmura came to the rescue. >> this is fred, laura's cat. fred had to have 12 teeth pulled. a surgery that would cost more than $1500. so laura explored whether pet insurance could scratch down the cost. laura says she called nationwide insurance. she said the telephone agent assured her that the vet bill would be covered even though the bad teeth were' preexisting condition. laura bought the insurance and fred had the surgery successfully. but then a $1700 bill arrived. laura says she asked nationwide why it didn't cover the bill. and it cited, a preexisting condition, which laura believed was covered during that phone conversation. she felt cheated so-called us for help. we contacted nationwide and it said, the sales agent clearly stated that preexisting conditions are ineligible for coverage. so we asked nationwide to hear recordings of laura's conversation. it did not provide the tape. but it later said, it reviewed the call and found that laura's claim was now eligible for coverage. nationwide paid the $1798. laura said she is so thrill

so, consumer investigator chris chmura )s team stepped in to help >> her catwalked p -- consumer investigative reporter chris stechd in to help. >> this is fred. 12 of fred's teeth had to be pulled. a surgery that would cost more than $1,500. laura explored whether pet insurance could help scratch down the cost. laura said she called nationwide insurance. she said the telephone sales agent told her the vet bill would be covered even though the bad teeth were a preexisting condition. laura went ahead and bought the insurance, and fred has a surgery done successfully. then a $1,700 bill arrived. laura said she asked nationwide why it didn't kbofr the vet bill, and it cited the preexisting condition, which she thought was covered. she felt cheated. she was stuck with that $1,798 bill, so she contacted us for help. we contacted nationwide, and it said a sales agent clearly stated the preexisting conditions are ineligible for coverage. we asked nationwide to hear the reporting for the conversation. it defendant's exhibit provide the statement, but it said later on it reviewed the call and found tha

i'm consumer investigator chris kim murrchmura chmura. >> it is wednesday, it is hump day right here on nbc bay area. take a look at this. i posted this on twitter, just something to make you file througho smile throughout the day. the time is 6:21, you can follow me now @marcusnbc. one day afters >>> we have breaking news to tell you about, two more emergency landings this morning just one day after planes engine brew out mid-air on a southwest flight. we're just learning about an incident in which a quantas plane had to turn after after taking off from dallas because of a flap issue. earlier this morning in nashville, a southwest plane struck a bird on takeoff. that plane was forced to turn around and head back to the airport. there are no injuries in either of those incidents and we'll have more on yesterday's deadly southwest plane in philadelphia coming up for you at 6:55. >>> it is tax day 2018 again after the irs added a one day extension because of problems with its website. >> big changes are coming to the way you file taxes next year. that means you might need to start taki

i'm consumer investigator chris chmura. sorry. i can't make it. it's just my eczema again, but it's fine. yeah, it's fine. you ok? eczema. it's fine. hey! hi! aren't you hot? eczema again? it's fine. i saw something the other day. eczema exposed. your eczema could be something called atopic dermatitis, which can be caused by inflammation under your skin. maybe you should ask your doctor? go to eczemaexposed.com to learn more. new, eco-friendly lawn mower isn )t so environmentally friendly. interviewing. >>> nbc bay area responds to an east bay homeowner who says his new ecofriendly lawn mower isn't so ecofriendly after all. >> he thinks it is already bound for the landfill. >> keith patterson said his battery operated lawn mower right there won't hold a charge. watch keith push the 250 mpbl push mower through his backyard to show us how it should work. but also listen of the it's silent. that mower, it doesn't run. he says he's already tried two replacement batteries, but the mower still doesn't work. >> the lawn mower, in a nut shell, it doesn't

. >> chris chmura is here to address them. >> mistakes on medical bills are rampant. the personal finance site nerd wallet did some research. it found errors are 49% of they will of the where there were mistakes, charges were 26% higher than they were supposed to be. what do you do about it? you speak up early. and often. if you're issued a bill immediately after your treatment, scrutinize it before you leave the office. ask questions and don't leave until you either get it settled or get a written commitment to fix it. if it is a bill that's wrong and it arrives in the mail after the fact, don't waste any time starting the process of challenging it. immediately call the office and contest the mistaken charges. be sure to document every single call make and keep every single piece of paper you receive. that being said, we know people sometimes give up fighting and those unpaid bills become medical debt. so nbc is partnering with an organization that can offer immediate help to hundreds of families. our company made a $150,000 donation to r.i.p. medical debt. it says i

consumer investigator chris chmura is here w/ the story. (cynthia pilgrim bought two show tickets on groupon. it advertised a seven p-m start time - it )s even printed on cynthia )s receipt. ( (but when she arrived - before seven - the event was already over. it actually started at three o )clock. unfortunately, cynthia )s luck did not improve. she had also bought a restaurant deal on groupon. ( ( (when she arrived, she foud the restaurant was closed - for good. cynthia says she asked groupon to refund both items, but didn t get anywhere. ...0 for three! so, she turned to us for help. ( ( ( (we contacted groupon ant refunded cynthia $116 -- exactly what she paid for the two deals. groupon also gave her a 100-dollar credit. (in a statement, groupon said, "we want our customers to have an amazing experience every time they use a groupon or we )ll work with them to make it right." these pre-paid deals via a third party can save you money. but, adding that middleman can also create problems. just ask cynthia. so... before you buy in, make one c

but filing in 2019 will look a lot different for a lot of californians as consumer investigator chris chmurals us, we should get ready now or risk a costly surprise. >> we suggest early tax planning every year, this year it's more important, that big tax law congress passed could make a huge difference in how much you owe or get back next year. so you need to take action this year. when congress first talked of tinkering with the tax code the ideas including ditching the old 1040 form, making things so simple, you can do taxes on a form the size of a postcard. >> going to be a huge postcard. >> ruth god free sits on the board of national society of acting and the changes made it more complex. >> there are massive changes. >> reporter: ruth and the irs don't always see eye to eye but do agree the new tax code requires almost everyone's immediate attention. >> a lot of us will be affected by the amount of taxes we pay based on this law so maybe consider some tax planning now. >> start with your paycheck, bug payroll to make sure the amount you send every pay day is enough to meet the new law.

. >> lets bring in chris chmura. >> chris campbell says he and his girlfriend paid 379 to hay needle.com a rug. chris says the rug started to deteriorate, fall apart. that is a hole right in the middle of the rug. he says that the edges also frayed. all within the first four months. hay needle's website says you may return most eligible items for whatever reason up to 30 days from the date of delivery. well, 120 days had passed. so chris says the company only offered a 40% off coupon for a new rug. chris says, hay needle should have done more to address his quality concerns than a 40% off coupon. so he wrote us. we contacted the company, and within a week, they did three things. it offered chris a full $379 refund. it also let him keep the rug and the 40% off coupon if he wants to get a new one. in a statement, a spokesperson said we are very sorry it hear that the quality of rug was not to our standards and said this is not the kind of experience we want for our customers and we appreciate the opportunity to make this right. it is worth noting that hay needle, lots of other companies to

if you're going to petaluma, butter and egg days parade you'll see chris chmura on the float. there will be a slight chance of rain especially in the morning. but at noon we'll start to see rain chances tapering off and it will be in the low 60s as the sun starts to come out. on sunday you'll be wrapping up your weekend at the pacific coast dream machines happening at half moon bay at the airport. that goes on from 10:00 to 4:00. it's going to be in the mid-50s but a nice event to go out there with the kids. a lot of kids events going on. then if you're going to squaw valley, we will have a mix of sun and clouds. you better get there soon because the snow continues to melt. it's going to be in the low- to mid-40s for much of the weekend. if you're going out of town to l.a., mid-60s, a little bit cooler there but we do still have sunshine in the forecast. as we make plans to maybe go hiking in muir woods, it pl be cool. definitely a hoodie or sweatshirt, something nice and comfortable and highs in the upper 50s to low 60s. we'll have a look at today's temperature trend for san

you'll see chris chmura out there on the nbc bay area float and also some great weather if you're going to san francisco for the dutch day wind mill festival. that's tomorrow and it looks like it will be a beautiful event. but make sure you're wearing something nice and warm. temperatures hold stud steady in upper 50s and then mike will be at on sunday, this will be a cool event in san jose to check out in gentleman opinijapan tow. partly cloudy skies throughout the day on sunday. we're watching for the chance of rain in the russian river valley but it's going to be a cool one with 59 degrees the high tomorrow and sunday partly cloudy skies and 64 degrees. heading farther south to carmel valley, we will see sunshine and up to 65 today but a touch cooler by sunday with breezy winds and high of 61 degrees. let me know what you're doing this weekend. of course, i'm your weekend party planner and have a look at today's temperature trend, try to make it through. coming up in three minutes. >> that's good, triplets birthday plan, come on over. >>> saving children sadly from abuse. new this mo

. >> cat racked up a big medal problem clawing away at the wallet and chris chmura's team came to theescue. >> this is fred, laura's cat. a vet said 12 of the teeth to be pulled a. surgery that would cost more than $1,500. laura explored whether pet insurance could help scratch down the cost. laura said she called nationwide insurance. she said a telephone sales agent told her the vet bill would be covered even though the bad teeth were a preexisting condition. laura went ahead and bought the insurance and fred had the surgery successfully. but then a $1,700 bill arrived. laura says she asked why nationwide why it didn't cover the bill and cited the preexisting condition and she thought was covered. she felt cheated. stuck with the bill. so she contacted us for help. we contacted nationwide and it said a sales agent clearly stated that pre-existing conditions are ineligible for coverage. but we asked nationwide to hear the recording of laura's conversation. it did not provide the tape but it said later on it reviewed the call and found that laura's claim was now eligible for coverage.

. >> chris chmura helps a san francisco man with a low fare mix-up. >> with three to choose from travelers in the bay area can often find great deals on flights if you know where to look. nathan is one of those bargain hunters. when he saw united airlines selling round trip flights to hawaii for $197 each, he quickly snapped up two seats. but a few days later nathan noticed his credit card was charged $347 per ticket. that's $150 more than he thought he was paying per seat leaving a total of $300 up in the air. nathan said he called united airlines and was told there was a system error. united then offered to cancel the trip and refund his money. but nathan wanted the bargain fare he initially paid for, a flight to hawaii for less than $200. that's when nathan asked us to help. we reached out to united. the airline told us a technical error occurred when our customer booked his tickets causing an incorrect additional charge and a delay in the tickets being issued. united let nathan keep the flight, it apologized and refunded the $300 that was in limbo. whenever you try to book a flight, es

i'm chris chmura, and nbc bay area responds, next. to move california forward, we need to help more californians get ahead. that's why antonio villaraigosa brought both parties together to balance the state budget with record investments in public schools... and new career training programs. as mayor of la, he brought police and residents together to get illegal guns off the streets and keep kids out of gangs, and on the right path. that's antonio villaraigosa. a governor for all of california. an unusual problem with >>> nbc bay area responds to a walnut creek family who had an unusual problem with their car. it literally didn't smell right. >> they asked the consumer investigator chris kehmure to come check it out. >> good morning. so much for that new car smell. this man noticed a foul odor in his 2013 ford explorer about a year after he bought it. he said he took the suv to a ford dealer several times and the dealer couldn't find anything wrong. but then in 2016 ford reported an exhaust problem with some explorers that cause the i

. >> consumer investigator chris chmura helps correct a mix-up. >> with three airports to choose from, travelers in the bay area find great deals on flights if you know where to look. nathan is one of those bargain hunters. when he saw united airlines selling round-trip tickets to hawaii for $197 each he quickly snapped up two seats. but a few days later nathan noticed the credit card was charged $347 per ticket. leaving a total of $300 up in the air. nathan says he called united airlines and told there was a system error. united then offered to cancel the trip and refund his money. nathan wanted the bargain fare he initially paid for, a flight to hawaii for less than 200 bucks. that's when nathan asked us to help. we reached out to united and told us a technical error occurred when the customer booked his ticket causing an incorrect additional charge and a delay in the tickets being issued. united let nathan keep the flight, it apologized and refunded the $300 that was in limbo. whenever you try to book a flight, especially one of those you can't miss deals, you got to make sure you

i'm chris chmura, nbc bay area responds to fred next. >>> and don't forget to join our conversation on social media every morning. we really do respond. big day -- big dave tweeted. thank you, we love you, too. you're watching "today in the bay." nbc bay area responds . toa novato pet owner. >>> 6:24 right now on this thursday morning. so nbc bay area responds to. >> her cat, a big medical bill clawing into her wallet. nbc responds to the rece crew. >> this is fred. a vet said 1212 of his teeth had to be pulled, a surgery that would cost more than $1500. laura explored whether pet insurance could help scratch down the cost. laura said she called nationwide insurance. she said a telephone sales agent said the vet bill would be covered even though the bad teeth were a pre-existing condition. laura went ahead and bought the insurance and fred had the surgery successfully. then a $1700 bill arrived. laura said she asked nationwide why it didn't cover the vet bill, and it cited the pre-existing condition, which she thought was covered. she felt cheated. she was stuck with that $798 bill so

i'm chris chmura, nbc bay area responds next. >>> welcome back on this friday. over the past two years our nbc bay area responds team has helped more than 9,000 people. we've helped a lot of hard-working people in the bay area get back what is rightfu y rightfully -- theirs. >> and we're talking about money. and here is some recent cases they closed. >> gwenyth was in a dispute with a timeshare and they weren't terminating her contract despite an agreement signed three years earlier. after we contacted the timeshare company she got a phone call and plus $11,000 back. >>> bridget in san lorenzo returned some dietary supplements by mail but the business didn't provide the refund. we reached out to the seller and bridget got $266. and we helped cast ray in los alto get $700 after he bought a new car and a $700 manufacturer rebate expired and we got it paid in full. before we go, a quick look at our grand total thanks to bay area consumers, just like you and your story, we have recovered more than $1.6 million in under two years. if you have consumer problems, our n

. >> this morning we have some answers from an insider, chris chmura with this access to two former debtollectors. >> good morning. we asked them some pretty direct questions and they gave us some pretty direct answers. jerry ashton and craig antigua had driven up debt collection and run a charity that buys up medical debt and forgives it. nbc owned tv stations recently made a donation to wipe out as much as $20 million in medical debt nationwide. after our donation, we asked the debt collectors to open up and they did. we asked them ten questions. here are a couple. first do debt collectors get a bonus or commission -- the answer, yes. but generally on overall performance, not per vid-- per individual collection. and there is a preset percentage, less than 100%, that a collector will take to settle a debt and the answer there is also yes. and that tells us you should always try to negotiate. one more question, real quick here. what kind of people end up becoming debt collectors -- their answer, they are not better or worse educated than the people they call. you could read all ten quest

. >> this morning we have some answers for you from an insider, consumer investigator chris chmura with the unprecedented access. >> we asked them pretty direct quiz a question and they gave us direct answers. they've given up debt collection and now run a charity that buys up medical debt and forgives it. nbc owned tv stations made a donation that will wipe up as much as $20 million in medical debt nationwide. after our donation, we asked the debt clerkollectors to open up they did. we asked ten questions, here are a couple of them. do debt collectors get a bonus or commission? the answer, yes, but generally on overall performance, not per individual collection. here's another, is there a pre-set percentage, maybe less than 100% that a collector will take to settle a debt? the answer there, also yes, that tells us you should always try to negotiation. what kind of people end up becoming debt collectors? their answer here, most bill collectors are not better or worse educated than the people they call. >> you can read all ten questions and revealing answers on our nbc bay area app or ou