Shortly after exiting a Prince George’s County dealership for the third time in two weeks, Robert Krughoff found that his car was still unrepaired. Soon, he knew, he’d have to go back a fourth time—or, better yet, find another store.

“There should be a way to find out who is doing good service work, not just what the good products are,” he later recalled.

Mr. Krughoff, then a 29-year-old federal official, had always been keen to find a deal. He was, he admitted, the kind of person who would get estimates from half a dozen companies before buying lumber, installing carpet, or waterproofing the basement of his Capitol Hill townhouse.

If Consumer Reports could test and rate products nationwide, he thought, there was no reason why a local publication couldn’t rate local businesses and services to help readers avoid the kind of fiasco he encountered. when he tried to get the engine of his Opel Kadett Coupé Fest.

Four years later, in 1976, Mr. Krughoff brought his shopping guide to life and published the first issue of Washington Consumers’ Checkbook, an ad-free semi-annual magazine published by a non-profit organization he ran on K Street NW.

Long before the creation of sites like Yelp and Angie’s List, the publication served as an essential resource for readers looking for recommendations on service providers ranging from plumbers to funeral directors to dentists.

Mr. Krughoff, who was 80 when he died at his home in Washington on February 26, spent the next half century building his organization into a force for readers across the country.

Checkbook, as it is known, now covers seven regions from Boston to Seattle and claims to attract more than 190,000 unique visitors to its website each month. The organization is still trying to prevent customers from being ripped off, an issue which Mr Krughoff believed was “as big a problem as it was” when it started.

“Amazingly, there is very little correlation between quality and price,” he told the Washington Post in 2022, a few months after retiring as president of Checkbook’s parent organization, the Center for the Study of Services.

Before founding Checkbook, Mr. Krughoff had little experience in publishing other than helping out a student newspaper in the Bronx during a brief stint as a junior high school teacher. Nevertheless, he knew something about the evaluation of services. At the US Department of Health, Education and Human Services, he was director of the newly formed Office of Research and Evaluation Planning, which, among other things, examined the effectiveness of community health centers and child education programs.

“I didn’t know exactly what I was getting myself into,” he told The Post in 1979, looking back on the transition from government work to a simple, not-for-profit enterprise, in which he and his staff sometimes resorted to salvaging office furniture off the street. “It’s a bit of a switch from having two secretaries waiting to take dictations from you to carrying your own mailbags to the post office.”

Within a few years of its founding, Checkbook had 20,000 subscribers in the Washington area and six full-time employees. His guides were based on reader polls as well as independent research, with employees “buying undercover,” as Mr. Krughoff put it, to compare prices at local companies. The publication also spoke to those in the know and interviewed ministers for a guide for funeral homes and paramedics for a report on emergency room care.

Some companies complained about the results, questioned Mr. Krughoff’s review process, or complained that their valuations were too low. But subscribers remained loyal, and Checkbook eventually expanded to launch a car buying service, CarBargains, and a guide for top doctors and other healthcare providers.

Checkbook’s work has been widely cited by mainstream news outlets, and Mr. Krughoff has been cited by publications such as The Post and New York Times for giving advice designed to help readers choose a retirement account, health insurance plan, or long-distance phone connection. Eager to share his insights, he was even willing to talk to people on the phone—perhaps through car dealerships or exterminators or tailors—regardless of whether they subscribed to Checkbook.

“I’d rather talk to them all day,” he told The Post in 2006, “than not let them use this resource.”

Robert Merrill Krughoff, the younger of two children, was born on October 11, 1942 in Dallas. He grew up in White Plains, New York, where his mother was a high school English teacher. His father worked for the Community Chest non-profit charity network, now known as the United Way.

Mr Krughoff said he learned the importance of finding a good service provider as a teenager when he went to the dentist and had what he later described as the worst consumer experience of his life. “There should have been a picture of my bottom teeth in the newspaper saying, ‘This is the work of Dr. …'”, he said.

In 1964 he received a bachelor’s degree from Amherst College in Massachusetts. He graduated from the University of Chicago Law School three years later, but found that he was more interested in legal theory than practice and gave up his legal career to try his hand at teaching. In 1969 he moved to HEW, today’s Department of Health and Human Services.

Five years later, he founded the Center for the Study of Services and started the organization with the help of approximately $50,000 in grant money from the Cafritz Foundation, the US Office of Consumer Affairs, and the Consumers Union, which allowed him to expand the Washington area measure subscribers via an ad in Consumer Reports magazine.

“That was a huge boost,” said Mr. Krughoff. “All we had to do was pay for the questionnaire to be printed ourselves, but the whole trip, in and out, was free.”

The first issue of Checkbook, dedicated exclusively to healthcare, ran 112 pages and sold at newsstands and bookstores for $4.95. The next few issues were also organized around a single theme: cars, home maintenance, finance. Checkbook expanded into the San Francisco region in 1981 and added five more regions in 2003.

Due to his temperament alone, Mr. Krughoff was perhaps ideally suited to lead the organization. Obsessed with research and extremely skeptical of “too good to be true” business claims, he devoted himself to finding the best service or product, regardless of convenience. “He’s going to Philadelphia for a used car,” the Post reported. “His employees joke that he would travel five times further than average to save $10.”

Checkbook made headlines after it sued the federal government in 2006 for access to Medicare claims data as part of an attempt to scrutinize physician performance nationwide. The group hoped the records would allow it to identify medical providers with particular expertise and uncover fraud and abuse while analyzing which doctors ordered unnecessary testing or hospitalizations. Medical groups said the disclosure would violate doctors’ privacy and result in an inaccurate picture of their work.

A lengthy legal battle ensued. A federal judge in Washington sided with Checkbook, but his ruling was overturned by an appeals court in 2009. Five years later, Medicare officials announced they were changing their data policy and began releasing statistics that offered insight into physician billing practices.

Mr. Krughoff’s death was confirmed by his wife, the former Gayle Gehring, whom he married in 1966. She said his health had deteriorated since late December, when he suffered a fall. In addition to his wife from Washington, survivors include two children, Alex from Washington and Anna from San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua; a sister; and three grandchildren.

Before the fall, Mr. Krughoff was still playing tennis and working in the house and in the neighborhood. According to his wife, he established a municipal pickleball court on Capitol Hill; poured his own concrete in the backyard; and painted myself.

He prefers to do the work himself, he said, although Checkbook recommended many people to hire.

The post Robert Krughoff, founding father of Shoppers’ Checkbook, dies at 80 appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

(CBS Baltimore) – The supply chain consists of the many steps that bring a product to the customer. But at the moment the chain seems to be broken or at least squashed in places. The shelves are partially empty, deliveries are delayed and prices are rising. Bottlenecks in many steps keep products out of the hands of consumers. It is unclear when the supply chain will normalize again. And the economy pays the price.

Any company’s supply chain can begin with suppliers of raw materials and other inputs. As soon as a product is manufactured, it travels along the network from the factory via a warehouse to a store and finally to the end customer. Various agents, brokers, sellers, transportation companies, and distribution centers can play a key role in ensuring that a product is manufactured and reaches its final destination.

CONTINUE READING: Armed, smashing robbers hit the Concord jewelry store

The supply chain is not working as it should, thanks to a host of issues exacerbated by the global COVID pandemic. In the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, cargo ships with around half a million containers full of goods from various countries in Asia are waiting to be unloaded. After unloading, a lack of truck drivers prevents these containers from leaving the ports on time. Rail terminals, to which trucks deliver goods for the next stage of the journey, are supplemented with containers for onward transport, which in turn also block arriving trains. Should these goods somehow make it to a warehouse, the labor shortage will limit their timely processing.

And these are just some of the problems.

A global shortage of microchips, exacerbated by winter storms in Texas that affected domestic production, is slowing the production of automobiles and various electronic devices. China, which produces many consumer goods destined for America, is suffering from an ongoing energy crisis that is limiting production. And manufacturers in many other countries with lower vaccination rates have suffered standstills and labor shortages due to the spread of the Delta variant.

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All of this happened when a shift in spending caused by COVID dramatically increased the demand for a wide variety of products. The situation is fluid and will likely remain so during the Christmas season and into the New Year.

CBS Local has the latest supply chain news from its markets across the country. We update this list regularly. So check back often for the latest news on the situation.

A deep look at the supply chain crisis:

Supply chain problems: “Problems are really everywhere”, even for small businesses

A look at how supply chain issues are affecting consumers across the country:

No more wire hangers? Supply chain crisis is now affecting businesses that you least expect

Local small business owners meet to discuss supply chain concerns

Supply chain delays disrupt California tree nut exports

Bay Area grocery stores facing a shortage of items on Thanksgiving shopping lists

Dealing with supply chain bottlenecks in view of the holiday season

“This is a year like no other”: Local toy stores are struggling with supply chain bottlenecks

With the rise in natural gas prices, consumers were expecting to pay around $ 40 more a month for heating bills

On the hunt for ammunition: Minnesotans have problems with the supply chain

The supply chain is putting a strain on retailers in the Bay Area as the holidays loom

Oakland Shipping Terminal port empties amid supply chain problems

Supply Chain Issues: Glass shortages only add to frustrations for car break-in victims

Supply chain concerns affecting the needs of the New Jersey Community Food Bank

Fines begin Monday for unmoved containers in LA ports, Long Beach

MORE NEWS: COVID: Long lines of children and parents at the Sonoma School Children’s Vaccination Clinic

The post How Are World Shortages Affecting Native Customers? – CBS San Francisco appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

(CBS Baltimore) – The sequence of steps that brings a product to the customer is known as the supply chain. But currently the shelves are partially empty, deliveries are delayed and prices are rising. Bottlenecks in many steps keep products out of the hands of the consumer. It is unclear when the supply chain will normalize again. And the economy pays the price.

Any company’s supply chain can begin with suppliers of raw materials and other inputs. As soon as a product is manufactured, it travels along the network from the factory via a warehouse to a store and finally to the end customer. Various agents, brokers, sellers, transportation companies, and distribution centers can play a key role in ensuring that a product is manufactured and reaches its final destination.

CONTINUE READING: UPDATE: 1 shot, 1 arrested in Campbell; Police activity at the second location calls for on-site protection

The supply chain is not working as it should, thanks to a host of issues exacerbated by the global COVID pandemic. In the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, cargo ships with around half a million containers full of goods from various countries in Asia are waiting to be unloaded. After unloading, a lack of truck drivers prevents these containers from leaving the ports on time. Rail terminals, to which trucks deliver goods for the next stage of the journey, are supplemented with containers for onward transport, which in turn also block arriving trains. Should these goods somehow make it to a warehouse, the labor shortage will limit their timely processing.

And these are just some of the problems.

A global shortage of microchips, exacerbated by winter storms in Texas that affected domestic production, is slowing the production of automobiles and various electronic devices. China, where many consumer goods destined for America are manufactured, is suffering from an ongoing energy crisis that is limiting production. And manufacturers in many other countries with lower vaccination rates have suffered standstills and labor shortages due to the spread of the Delta variant.

CONTINUE READING: Supply chain problems: “Problems are really everywhere”, even for small businesses

All of this happened when a shift in spending caused by COVID dramatically increased the demand for products. The situation is fluid and will likely remain so during the Christmas season and into the New Year.

CBS Local has the latest supply chain news from its markets across the country. We update this list regularly. So check back regularly for the latest news on the situation.

A deep look at the supply chain crisis:

Supply chain problems: “Problems are really everywhere”, even for small businesses

MORE NEWS: Windy fires caused by lightning burned hundreds of giant sequoias

A look at how supply chain issues are affecting consumers across the country:

Supply Chain Issues: Glass shortages only add to frustrations for car break-in victims

Supply chain concerns affecting the needs of the New Jersey Community Food Bank

Fines begin Monday for unmoved containers in LA ports, Long Beach

Problems in the supply chain lead to limited furnace supply

Supply chain issues make a scary sight when Colordan’s shop for Halloween costumes

UPS is preparing for a surge in package volume for holidays, but says supply chain issues are not going away

Supply chain crisis forces Fort Worth restaurant to close

Supply Chain Crisis: Shipping industry leaders meet in San Francisco, warn of backlog to extend long holidays

The post How World Shortages Are Affecting Customers Nationwide – CBS San Francisco appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.