Panasonic wanted $7 for advice on how to fix a glitch with one of its cordless phones Secaucus, New Jersey

  My 92-year-old mother-in-law found that her Panasonic cordless telephone would not work after she changed its battery.  She called the Panasonic customer support line and was told that they would be able to give her a code to enter into the phone that would enable the handset to be recognized by the base station again. But first, Panasonic wanted to charge her a fee of $7. This is my idea of a complete ripoff. After she pays a premium to buy an expensive brand of telephone, the company's idea of "support" is to charge a substantial fee to help her overcome a problem with their own product. Disgraceful. This seems a good reason to think twice before buying a Panasonic product.