MY OPINION
ARTHUR ROSEN
CONSUMER PROTECTION
Hey this is supposed to be an Aviation Column.
However so many of my friends, including myself, are tired of getting ripped off by retail concerns. There are some really good people to do business with such as Costco, Discount Tire, Amazon and many more. Then there are some really lousy skunks out there to do business with, and my friends needed help obtaining recourse. Having heard Court cases on all levels for 20 years I decided to list below some hints and a couple of personal actions I just resolved and how.
1: Get an American Express card and charge anything major you buy. Recourse with AMEX is usually a great experience. I have used it against Best Buy, 3 Day Blinds and others to charge back fraudulent charges. In addition AMEX doubles the warranty on purchases.
Just this month I have reversed charges against 3 Day Blinds for over $500. You need to have good documentation such as when you talked to someone with the company, who you talked with and what the results were.
There are all kinds of AMEX cards. Just get one without a fee.
2: There are many Government resources that won’t cost you anything, and you can probably file online in 15 minutes. Remember do not get emotional. Just submit the facts, date, time, who you talked to to resolve the problem and the results or lack thereof.
A: If it is an Intrastate problem file with your States Attorney’s General Office.
I also did this with 3 Day Blinds as I could never get a response from them after talking to them, and they never got back to me.
B: If it’s an Interstate problem file with the US Attorney’s Office. With 3 Day Blinds I filed with both.
When 3 Day Blinds were served with paperwork from both institutions, they called me immediately to work out a solution. They were at my mercy. I got everything I asked for.
Another example was a problem with Norelco Razors (Phillips) not honoring a warranty on a razor purchased from Costco. In my phone conversation with them in January they said they would not honor the rebate as I purchased the razor on sale at Costco.
I filed a price fixing complaint with the US Attorney’s office and really forgot about it. I did return my razor to Costco and received a AMEX credit which I used to buy a Braun razor.
Yesterday I received a check from Phillips with an apology letter for not paying the rebate. I figure they now paid towards a Braun razor.
What these companies don’t understand is that we will go out of our way to disparage them any chance we get.
3: Small Claims Court
Small Claims Court will cover anywhere from $2,500 to $10,000 depending on where you live. I don’t recommend Small Claims against another individual as it is hard to collect your money after a verdict. If you are dealing with a Company go for it.
4: TV Stations
Most TV stations have a Consumer Reporter. Businesses do not wish to have bad publicity on TV.
The easiest avenues are to let someone else do the work for you. I would put Small Claims in last place.
Hope this helps.
