Consumer Attorneys

IN the summer of 2001, complaints began flooding in to the State Department of Consumer Protection regarding Acme Rent-A-Car in New Haven. The company was using global positioning systems installed in their rental cars to track the speeds customers were driving.

If a person exceeded the speed limit for more than two minutes, their credit or debit card was billed $150 each time. One customer was charged an extra $450 in a single trip and didn’t find out until he opened his credit-card bill weeks later.

Acme received about $13,000 from customers before action was taken, according to the Department of Consumer Protection.

The department pursued the complaints, which numbered about 40, and issued an order in February prohibiting the company from unauthorized use of the systems. Acme, which warned customers of the fees in the rental contract, has appealed the decision.

More : query.nytimes.com

Ofcom has published a stack of proposals about how to improve consumer protection for millions of UK phone and broadband users, kicking off ten weeks of consultation during which it will look to thrash out a number of proposals to keep UK consumers safe from rogue or incompetent operators.

In a nutshell, the regulator wants to increase consumer protection by installing an improved early warning system to raise awareness of scams and misselling in the communications sector, backed by “quicker and more targeted action” to address issues of concern to consumers. It also wants to see how current complaints processes can be improved, and provide access to “reliable and useful data to inform their choices in a competitive market”.

According to the consultation document*, Ofcom’s aim is to “work together with other organisations and industry to ensure that consumers benefit from increasingly competitive communications markets, are effectively protected from financial and physical harm, unreasonable annoyance and anxiety, and have the information and tools necessary to make informed choices.”

More : theregister.co.uk

The Federal Trade Commission, slowly emerging from the laissez-faire attitude of the Reagan Administration, is starting to use its antitrust muscles and renew its interest in cases that affect the public’s pocketbook.

The agency has begun to challenge manufacturers that seek to limit price discounting by retailers and is also investigating the possibility that makers of infant formula colluded to set prices. The number of cases involving false and deceptive advertising, another area regulated by the agency, is also up.

“There is a new vigor and commitment at the agency,” said Michael Pertschuk, a commission member from 1974 to 1984 who is co-director of the Advocacy Institute, a public interest group in Washington. “This infant-formula investigation might have been brought under the Reagan Administration, but the economists at the F.T.C. then would have figured out why price fixing is good for consumers.” Inquiries in Other Areas

In the formula case, the agency subpoenaed the records of all leading makers of infant formula after state welfare officials and consumer groups complained that the manufacturers had raised prices in a uniform way over the past decade.

More : query.nytimes.com

CONSUMERS looking for bargains in local department stores should also look closely at the cash register when making purchases, according to officials of the County Department of Consumer Protection.

The county’s 1975 Consumer Protection Code describes it as a violation for a merchant to use any register or totaling device that does not allow the consumer to see the cost of each item purchased, plus the tax and total cost.

In recent years, many of the larger department stores in the county have replaced their cash registers with state-of-the-art computer systems. In addition to tabulating prices, such systems can provide detailed information on the customer’s buying habits and credit history.

In cases where the new systems have not been in compliance with the county code, the Consumer Protection Department has contacted the stores about rectifying the problem. If that fails, a store can face fines up to a maximum of $500 for each violation. Times Have Changed

More : query.nytimes.com

The Federal Trade Commission is warning Web sites catering to children to comply with a new privacy law that took effect in April, or else they will face its wrath.

The FTC is sending e-mail messages to “scores of Web sites” directed at children to alert them that they could face legal action as early as September if they aren’t in compliance with the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, or COPPA.

“Protecting children’s privacy is a priority for the FTC,” says Jodie Bernstein, director of the commission’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. “We intend to ensure that Web sites collecting personal information from kids are complying with COPPA, and that kids’ information is protected, not exploited.”

The law requires Web sites that get traffic from children who are younger than 13 to post a privacy policy detailing the personally identifiable information they collect from their youthful visitors. That includes information required to register as a user of a site, or even data that children may reveal in chat rooms. Web sites affected by COPPA also must have a parental notification-and-approval policy in place. (See “Sites Cope With COPPA.”)

Violators face civil penalties of $11,000 per violation, and the commission said it has a number of non-public investigations under way.

More : pcworld.com

The Australian and New Zealand governments have taken another step towards achieving their long-term goal of creating a single economic market, Australian treasurer Peter Costello said.

He said this time the focus was on competition and consumer protection law with the two countries agreeing to set up a study to look at the potential for greater co-operation and integration of their competition and consumer protection regimes.

Costello said the study would look at core restrictive trade practices and consumer protection provisions of Australia’s Trade Practices Act 1974, New Zealand’s Commerce Act 1986 and fair Trading Act 1986 and associated institutions in both nations.

“This is a forward-looking research study to inform both governments on possible future arrangements to better align our respective legislation and practices to remove barriers to trans-Tasman business,” Costello said in a statement.

“All options are on the table, including having common laws and a single trans-Tasman enforcement agency.”
Source : tvnz.co.nz

World governments will rush in and legislate the Internet unless the computing and online service industries step up their efforts to self-regulate matters of consumer protection, two former aides to U.S. President Bill Clinton said here on Monday.

“The next two to three years will be crucial in determining whether the Internet remains a free medium or whether it becomes an area that governments cannot resist regulating,” said Ira Magaziner, a former Clinton advisor who helped shape the U.S. administration’s current policies for the digital age. He stepped down from his White House job in December, after three years with the administration, to become a business consultant.

National laws governing taxation, import, and encryption can stifle the growth of the Internet economy, said Christine Varney, another former White House advisor, who has also served on the U.S. Federal Trade Commission.

Varney now heads up the law firm Hogan and Hartson and represents Netscape Communications in the ongoing U.S. v. Microsoft antitrust trial. She was another speaker at the annual forum sponsored by the Internet Content Coalition.

More : pcworld.com

LAST April, 7-year-old Michele Snow of Riverside, Calif., was struck in the head by a heavy metal object. She died three days later.

LAST April, 7-year-old Michele Snow of Riverside, Calif., was struck in the head by a heavy metal object. She died three days later.

Michele wasn’t the victim of an attack, nor was she fooling around with a tool or some other piece of equipment to be operated by adults. She was killed by something that looks like a toy.

Michele was killed by a lawn-dart, an object with plastic fins and a long metal point that, contrary to Federal Consumer Product Safety Commission regulations, has been sold in the toy departments of stores.

Even after the death, lawn-darts could still be found in toy departments; the commission was not enforcing its own rules.

Although this might be one of the most dramatic examples of the commission’s failing to perform its job, it is, unfortunately, far from being the only one.

More : query.nytimes.com

A new unified consumer protection code is to be introduced next year by the Financial Regulator, it emerged today.

The code will set out the rules firms must comply with to ensure consumers have the same level of protection regardless of the type of company they deal with.

The Financial Regulator’s 2006 Strategic Plan also outlined plans for a new consumer website and an information initiative on maturing Special Savings Incentive Accounts (SSIAs).

A new Fitness and Probity framework will also be introduced to ensure there are common requirements for managers and directors in positions of power in financial institutions.

More : breakingnews.iol.ie

THE appearance of the first crocuses and daffodils does more than stir up spring fever in many homeowners. Like a longstanding relationship where a mate’s initially charming idiosyncrasies begin to grate as annoying personality quirks, the first signs of spring seem to highlight property flaws — and the desire to do something about them.

In the first flush of enthusiasm to embark on the renovation of a kitchen, bathroom, deck or master bedroom, even the most sophisticated consumers can make mistakes in hiring the right contractor. A mismatch between a contractor’s prior experience and a consumer’s expectations can transform a productive collaboration into a nightmare. Or a homeowner’s repeated requests for changes in the original plan can delay completion of a renovation and drive up the cost.

Dealing with contractors can range from the mildly annoying and frustrating to the truly aggravating.

“One of the most annoying things about the bidding process was that a lot of these contractors don’t bother to come back in with a bid,” said Marcia Springut of Edgemont. Then there are the contractors who fail to keep appointments and those who don’t return customers’ phone calls.

More : query.nytimes.com

European consumers will have greater protection from unfair businesses practices after a new deal among EU member states was secured by the Irish Presidency in Brussels today.

A meeting of Competitiveness Ministers in Brussels, chaired by Tanaiste Mary Harney, reached political agreement on proposals for a new directive outlawing unfair commercial practices and making it easier for consumers to seek redress if they fall victim to rogue traders.

The type of practices outlawed by the direction include making false claims about products, persistent and unsolicited calls on consumers whether in person or by telephone and certain types of advertisements aimed at children.

More : rte.ie

The FTC vs. Kaplan

Six times a year, high school students converge on test centers nationwide for a fearsome academic ritual: the Scholastic Aptitude Test, which helps determine where tens of thousands of students will go to college. In theory, there is little that students can do to prepare for the dread day, since the S.A.T. supposedly measures innate ability, not learned skills. In practice, however, more students each year desperately cram for the S.A.T.s. A third of public and private schools in the Northeast now offer some sort of S.A.T. preparation course. Elsewhere around the country, thousands of nervous scholars flock to commercial coaching schools, which drill and review them—and woo them with promises of striking results.

The College Entrance Examination Board, which sponsors the S.A.T., has steadfastly tried to discredit cram schools, thus defending the S.A.T.’s objective infallibility. But the coaching schools, which also prepare students for the Law School Admissions Test (L.S.A.T.) and Graduate Record Examinations, have become more than a $10 million annual business. So much so, in fact, that the Federal Trade Commission’s Bureau of Consumer Protection decided to investigate them. The immediate target was the Stanley H. Kaplan Educational Center, a chain of 88 schools founded by Stanley Kaplan, 60, the son of a Brooklyn plumbing contractor who has been tutoring all his professional life. Kaplan, rather brashly, had at one time advertised the ability of his review course, which now costs $275, to raise S.A.T. scores as much as 100 points. The FTC thought such claims “were not only unsubstantiated but false,” says Albert Kramer, head of the Bureau of Consumer Protection.

When the FTC last week released the findings of its four-year study, however, the entrepreneur from Brooklyn looked pretty good. The report was full of qualifications, and the results were still incomplete. But it clearly indicated that “underachieving students”—defined as those who score lower on standardized tests than their grades and class rank warrant —after ten weeks of coaching could improve both verbal and math scores by an average of 25 points. The largest average gain ever found by the College Board was eight to ten points.

More : time.com

The good news is that we are living longer. The bad news is that the cost of doing so has to be funded, and this can be very expensive.

The state may provide some help towards the cost of long-term care, but this is means-tested and those who do not qualify for help have to pay out of their own resources.

In order to bridge the gap, consumers need to consider whether to make their own provision. This is where long-term care insurance comes in.

A number of products are available. These can bring peace of mind but, as with most financial services products, buying long-term care insurance is not without risk. These are complex products, and choosing the right one depends on a number of factors.

More : telegraph.co.uk

The new year should be a better one for California consumers, thanks to several laws that include tighter controls on high-risk lending and stronger measures to prevent credit card fraud.

But a major bill restricting banks, insurers and other businesses from selling a customer’s private financial information was torpedoed by Gov. Gray Davis before it reached his desk.

“There was some good stuff, but we still left some stuff on the to-do list, ” said Sen. Debra Bowen, D-Marina del Rey.

During the legislative session that ended Sept. 14, lawmakers sent the Democratic governor 1,130 bills. Davis signed 961 of them.

Some of the new laws raise California’s minimum wage by 50 cents to $6.75 an hour, increase unemployment benefits for many displaced workers and exempt farm equipment purchases from state sales tax.

More : sfgate.com

TOUGH new rules on what credit-card companies must tell their customers became law in New York State last month, but they may not be on the books for long. Representative Charles E. Schumer wants to pre-empt them with Federal regulations that some consumer groups say are less stringent.

TOUGH new rules on what credit-card companies must tell their customers became law in New York State last month, but they may not be on the books for long. Representative Charles E. Schumer wants to pre-empt them with Federal regulations that some consumer groups say are less stringent.

The bill sponsored by the Brooklyn Democrat would force companies to tell consumers more than most states now require about fees, interest rates and other financial details. The idea is to let consumers shop around in the nationwide credit-card marketplace and to put pressure on interest rates that now average 18.16 percent, up from 17.57 percent last year. If the rates fall, as the bill’s proponents hope, it would mean substantial savings for the typical consumer, who rolls over an average credit-card balance of $875 a month, according to one survey, and pays $158.90 a year for the privilege.

More : query.nytimes.com

A TRIP to the supermarket late one evening became a nightmare for June Neal, director of communications for the state Department of Consumer Protection. After Ms. Neal finished her shopping, she headed for the one checkout lane that was open. A line formed behind her as the clerk checked out groceries with the efficiency of a sleepwalker. Then the clerk picked up a telephone and began a conversation with her boyfriend. Finally, the store manager came by and told the clerk to hang up the phone and get back to work. The clerk swore at her boss, slammed the phone down and walked off.

”It really bothered me, because my son was with me,” Ms. Neal said. ”I don’t like him to see an adult swearing and acting like that.”

In an economy that draws much of its strength from service-related businesses, stories abound about would-be shoppers waiting for help from the one clerk assigned to cover an entire department, the landscaping service that takes a week to return a call and the store that doesn’t bother to inform a customer that the material she ordered for draperies was discontinued.

More : query.nytimes.com

WHEN the State Department of Consumer Protection tells Connecticut restaurants ”no substitutions, please,” it means no fake crabmeat, no jumbo shrimp that is not really jumbo shrimp, and no other half-truths on the menu.

WHEN the State Department of Consumer Protection tells Connecticut restaurants ”no substitutions, please,” it means no fake crabmeat, no jumbo shrimp that is not really jumbo shrimp, and no other half-truths on the menu.

To get that message to people who eat out and to the restaurants that serve them, the department released a pamphlet Tuesday that exposes false restaurant claims.

The pamphlet is a mock menu for a mythical restaurant called Tim’s Place, and it warns Connecticut restaurant-goers about some ominous trends in eating out. Fake Canadian Bacon

More : query.nytimes.com

Tonight, startling new illustrations of our government’s outright failure to protect American consumers. You won’t believe what’s been found in one of the country’s most popular toys imported from where else, Communist China.

Also tonight, our exclusive interview with Democratic presidential candidate Senator Hillary Clinton. We’ll find out whether she supports or supposes or both Governor Eliot Spitzer’s outrageous plan to give driver’s licenses to illegal aliens. We’ll have all of that and a lot more straight ahead here tonight.

ANNOUNCER: This is LOU DOBBS THIS WEEK, news debate and opinion. Here now Lou Dobbs.

DOBBS: Good evening, everybody. The House of Representatives tonight preparing to vote on a new challenge to President Bush’s conduct of the war in Iraq. Congressional Democrats want to sharply restrict the amount of money president bush can spend. Those Democrats saying President Bush must withdraw most troops from Iraq by December 2008. The White House, though, saying President Bush will veto any bill that contains an artificial timetable for withdrawal. Jessica Yellin has our report from Capitol Hill. Jessica?

JESSICA YELLIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Lou, expect another confrontation over the war in Iraq this week as congressional Democrats have the latest attempt too end that war. Democrats are feeling cheered by their first override of a presidential veto and they are aware of the latest poll numbers saying the growing number of Americans remain fed up with the status of that war. This week Democrats say, Mr. President, you asked for $200 billion to fight that war in Iraq. Well, we’ll give you $50 billion, and it comes with string.

More : edition.cnn.com

Online-payment company PayPal Inc. has agreed to pay $5.2 million to settle separate claims against it by customers and by Washington state and 27 other states alleging deceptive business practices.

The Washington Attorney General’s Office reported Thursday morning that PayPal — which is owned by online-auction giant eBay — agreed to clearly explain conditions and policies before a consumer becomes a PayPal member and each time a customer initiates a transaction.

The company denied any wrongdoing but voluntarily agreed to pay $1.7 million to settle charges brought by 28 state attorneys general. Washington’s share is $144,500, to cover attorneys’ costs and fees.

The agreement with the states does not affect private class-action lawsuits in which PayPal has agreed to provide restitution to consumers.

PayPal announced Thursday that it has reached a preliminary settlement agreement with its customers in a proposed class action in U.S. District Court in New York.

More : seattlepi.nwsource.com

With its warning last Monday that tens of millions of people should test their homes for the presence of carcinogenic radon gas and make repairs, the Government in effect proclaimed a national emergency, according to Government officials and spokesmen for consumers’ organizations.

With its warning last Monday that tens of millions of people should test their homes for the presence of carcinogenic radon gas and make repairs, the Government in effect proclaimed a national emergency, according to Government officials and spokesmen for consumers’ organizations.

But there are only fragmented government programs at the Federal, state or local levels that deal with questions raised by concerned homeowners and renters. And there are no licensing requirements for contractors who test for the naturally occurring gas or install systems to divert radon from buildings. A result, the officials and consumer experts say, is that anybody can call himself a radon expert, and many consumers may be frustrated by incompetent contractors or be swindled by unscrupulous sellers of useless services or spurious products.

More : query.nytimes.com