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As a consumer, your best response to abusive business
tactics may be to file a complaint with your State
office of Consumer Protection.
WHO SHOULD FILE
In most States, Consumer Protection is a department within
the Office of the Attorney General. Before you file your
complaint, understand that the Attorney General is the
State's lawyer, not your lawyer. By law, the Attorney
General is unable to address an individual situation that
does not affect parties beyond the two directly involved.
Sometimes they will refer citizens to a local court or
recommend seeking counsel from a private attorney.
WHY YOU SHOULD FILE
One of the most important reasons for filing a consumer
complaint is to bring the situation to the attention of
the Attorney General. One instance of abusive business
practices may not be sufficient for the Attorney General to
take action. However, your complaint will be counted with
others and, should the Attorney General see a consistent
pattern of bad performance, you can be sure an investigation
will be launched.
WHAT TO EXPECT
The level of assistance available from the Office of the
Attorney General varies from State to State. Some States
do little more than accumulate complaints watching for
a pattern of bad behavior. For example, in Colorado,
consumer complaints are turned over for processing to the
Better Business Bureau, which is funded by the very businesses
they are investigating.
Other States can be very aggressive when investigating claims.
Some require businesses to respond in writing to every complaint.
Your Attorney General might even offer mediation services to
help resolve the situation. In Maine, the Office of the Attorney
General provides dispute mediation services to ensure
complaints are resolved to the consumer's satisfaction.
BEFORE YOU FILE
Before contacting your Attorney General, first make every effort to
resolve the problem. If you are speaking only to a company
employee, insist on talking to a supervisor or manager. Give the
business every opportunity to correct the problem.
Know what it will take to resolve your complaint and be
resonable. Think about the three "R"s... Repair, Replace,
and Refund. If you feel that a repair, replacement, or a
refund will not be enough to make you happy, you probably
want to call an attorney, not the Attorney General.
For more information about filing a complaint with your Office
of the Attorney General, select the appropriate link at right.
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