Consumer Defense Resource Group

Activism

Summary. Welcome to the Consumer Defense Resource Group at Resources for Life. The CDRG provides access to a consortium of consumer advocacy groups with decades of collective experience in successfully defending consumer rights. If you’ve done a Google search for consumer defense, you’ve noticed we’re usually in the top three of 500,000 search results.

Our Successes. As a result of generous support and donations, we’ve taken on corporate giants and won disputes such as:

  • Agriprocessors Sholom Rubashkin Meat Packing Plant. When a small family-owned locally-run meat packing plant in rural Iowa came under attack from the animal rights group Peta, news spread to Jerusalem and around the world. We sent a vegetarian to the plant to report first-hand about how the plant was being operated. The results of our findings were startling. [more]
  • Apple.
    • iPhone 4. When the iPhone 4 was reported as having an antenna design flaw, we investigated and reported on the issue. [more]
    • iTunes. In working with top legal counsel for Apple we negotiated to have some songs previously only available in album compilations for $9.99 to be sold individually for 99 cents. An example is the song American Pie by Don McLean which was originally only available for $9.99 with the purchase of an album. The song is now available individually for 99 cents. (October 2005)
    • MacBook Pro. When Apple MacBook Pro notebooks began exhibiting a possible heat induced damage, we investigated and reported on the issue. [more]
  • Best Buy. In negotiating on behalf of a customer, by contacting the Federal Trade Commission, we were able to uphold the customer’s right to return a non-working opened software program. (September 2008)
  • eBay. When the seller of a vehicle lists their car on eBay Motors, they are notified of the advertising cost for the listing. However, at no point during the listing process is the seller notified of an additional $125 fee charged for each car sold. The practice of having hidden/undiclosed fees is misleading. In one case, the CDRG successfully had the fee refunded to the seller, and pressure was put on eBay to disclose this fee with the other advertising costs during the listing process. (October 2008)
  • Get Motivated. We’re currently engaged in an effort to make this organization comply with Federal Guidelines regarding unsolicited junk email. (December 2008)
  • Progressive. As an auto insurance company, Progressive is considered to be one of the best, but even the best can make mistakes. From May 2008 through February 2009, Progressive charged a customer for a named operator policy and led the customer to believe that the policy would cover rental cars. Fortunately no claims were filed. When the customer found out that the policy didn’t cover rentals, Progressive initially refused to offer a refund. Ultimately, the CDRG persuaded Progressive to refund the customer over $300 (the full amount charged for insurance for that 10 month period. (March 2009)
  • Qwest Communications. In advocating for rural Iowa customers, we were able to request delivery of high speed Internet DSL services to an area where Qwest said they could not and would not provide DSL service. (March 2006)
  • ShopToEarn | ShopToEarth. We are currently conducting a proactive review and evaluation of this company. No complaints have been received thus far.
  • Sprint. Over a period of more than a year, a customer continued to be charged for Sprint wireless service even though the phones had been ported to another carrier. Sprint took collections action against the customer, demanding payment, and threatened to damage the customer’s credit history. After repeated negotiations and follow-ups with numerous Sprint employees over many months, the CDRG ultimately scored a victory in this case and our client was awarded the $27.29 that was due to them. (October 2008)

Tough Cases – Important Victories. In some cases, where businesses are engaged in deception and fraud, we’ve contacted local law enforcement, state agencies, consumer groups, the media, and federal authorities to request intervention and action.

Endorsements. Although we’re based in the United States, we’ve worked with clients around the world.

  • “Your article about returning software was very useful and resolved the problem. Keep up the good work, for you have made me more aware of what to look for when software purchases are needed. I also appreciated your quick response.” – R.H. of Warwick, R.I. (20100109sa1134)
  • “… a wonderful experience in efficiency, satisfaction and good customer relationship.” – Chester P., Business Owner, West Indies (20060715sa1809)
  • “I am very grateful for the efficient, kind and prompt help provided by Gregory Johnson at Resources for Life. Being abroad of the U.S., such assistance becomes even more important and helpful for the defense of consumers. His guidance during my inquiries about a company selling products for scientific research made a big difference, and saved me valuable time and efforts.” – Dr. B. Lomonte, Professor, University of Costa Rica (20060711tu0017)

Mission: Consumer Focused – Business Minded. The increasing number of independent entrepreneurs in recent years has raised public awareness and appreciation about the challenges of running a small business. Indeed, most consumers today are also business owners. For this reason, today’s consumer advocacy is less concerned about pitting consumers against businesses and more concerned with conflict resolution and reconciliation.

“The notion that most people want black-robed judges, well-dressed lawyers, and fine paneled courtrooms as the setting to resolve their dispute is not correct. People with problems, like people with pains, want relief, and they want it as quickly and inexpensively as possible.” - Warren E. Burger former Chief Justice United States Supreme Court

Building Strong Business Relationships. Rather than taking legal action against a company, we first explore every diplomatic avenue available to have reasonable requests and concerns properly addressed. We believe that everyone is better served by giving businesses an opportunity to take corrective action on their own. In building relationships with businesses, we don’t feel we are diminishing our commitment to defend consumer rights. We feel that positive relationships with businesses allow us to have more effective results than if we were in an adversarial relationship with businesses. By helping businesses become more ethical and responsible, we proactively create a better world for consumers.

Our Proactive Approach Works – And Everyone Benefits. Unlike some ‘ambulance chasing’ lawyers or opportunistic alarmists, we’re out to proactively prevent disputes rather than wait for them to happen. That’s why we diligently research business practices and then notify businesses if they are not in compliance with general guidelines or applicable laws. This helps clear the way for positive customer relations and reduces our work load considerably – since an ‘ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.’ Most businesses appreciate this approach and are quick to address and rectify potential problems.

Consumer Documents. We develop consumer guidelines and publish them online. Here is a sampling of what we offer.

Company Reviews. Investigative journalists are typically unwilling to allow those they are investigating to have editorial influence over their story. However, at the CDRG, our investigative reporters are courteous enough to keep companies in the loop and whenever possible, allow interactive involvement in story development. By giving companies an opportunity to take corrective measures, we make it possible for companies to have a great deal of influence over what is reported about them. This helps reduce unnecessary, avoidable, and irresponsible ‘muckraking’ about companies that are actually quite willing to improve if given an opportunity. Most businesses appreciate this approach. This allows us to offer business reviews that are accurate, thorough, and also respectful. However, don’t confuse us with your local Chamber of Commerce or Advertising Agency. Protecting consumers is our primary objective. It’s just that we feel helping businesses improve, is one of the best ways to do this.

Guidelines for Company Review Consideration. Because of our focus on reforming business, for us to consider researching a company, it must show promise for improvement and long-term success. If before or during the process of our research we determine that a company shows little hope of improving because its employees and management are severely incompetent, stubborn, and/or incapable of engaging in meaningful dialog, we will not invest significant energy or resources in trying to reform that company. In such cases, we realize it is unlikely that any amount of effort on our part can help them. We are not a law-enforcement agency. Therefore, we do not have an interest in dealing with companies that have a high likelihood of being involved with organized crime. We are not interested in expending our resources trying to defend ourselves against those who are malicious, threatening, and dangerous.

Collaboration With Government Agencies. Unfortunately, some companies are unwilling to take corrective action on their own or even admit a problem exists. In such cases, we will use every possible resource at our disposal to persuade the company to take corrective action. Only as a last resort do we engage state and federal agencies as well as law enforcement and the media, if necessary, to pressure stubborn and greed constrained companies that are operating outside of generally accepted practices and/or blatantly violating the law. For more information, see Consumer Action Escalation Level 3 described below. In some cases, government agencies and law enforcement contact us for help researching leads about questionable business practices. We do all we can to help.

Consumer Action Escalation Levels. When you have a concern, complaint, disagreement or dispute with a business, make every effort to find a resolution through discreet channels of communication. Many companies are responsible enough to respond, graciously acknowledge when a problem exists, and take corrective action through internal self-governance. If you are working with a company that doesn’t respond, doesn’t acknowledge any problems exits, and doesn’t take corrective action, then you may need to escalate your efforts. Below is a general guideline to severity levels of consumer action escalation.

  • LEVEL 1 – Discreet Notification. Involving as few people as necessary, communicate with the company discreetly to have your concerns addressed by the company – not just with a form letter in return, but with genuine and sincere corrective action. Sometimes this can be as simple as filling out an online form. Most companies will quickly respond and the matter will be resolved promptly. If you are ignored, advance to LEVEL 2.
  • LEVEL 2 – Internal Pressure. Contact various departments inside the company and request to speak with supervisors if necessary. At this point, you will probably get an apology for the delay in having your concerns addressed, and the matter will be resolved quickly. If you are ignored and/or treated rudely, contact the company’s legal department and give them one last opportunity to respond to your concerns. If your concerns are addressed and responded to with genuine and sincere corrective action, then return to LEVEL 1. If your concerns are still not addressed, advance to LEVEL 3.
  • LEVEL 3 – External Pressure. If the company is willingly engaged in misleading, deceptive, illegal, or harmful activity and appears to have no intention to take corrective action through internal self-governance, you will probably need to contact local, state, and federal agencies. Links to some consumer protection agencies are below. Some companies will try to find legal loopholes so they can continue in unethical and deceptive practices. Even without such loopholes, they may be able to continue in their activity benefiting from an overburdened legal system that is easy on corporate and white collar crime. In such cases it may be necessary to contact news agencies, trade journalists, competitors, consumer groups, and the company’s customer base. Consider organizing a boycott. This may need to happen simultaneously with government pressure, especially if the company has demonstrated an unwillingness to even respond to reasonable requests made in LEVEL 1 and LEVEL 2.

Resources. Below are some useful consumer resources.

  • Better Business Bureau – “To promote through self-regulation, the highest standards of business ethics and conduct; and to instill public confidence in responsible business through programs of education and action that inform, protect and assist the general public.”
  • Center for Science in the Public Interest – “Since 1971, the Center for Science in the Public Interest has been a strong advocate for nutrition and health, food safety, alcohol policy, and sound science. Its award-winning newsletter, Nutrition Action Healthletter, with some 900,000 subscribers in the United States and Canada, is the largest-circulation health newsletter in North America.”
  • ConsumerAction.gov – “Although the Federal Citizen Information Center does not handle consumer complaints, we do provide consumer information online and through the publications that are listed in our Catalog. The Handbook contains contact information for federal agencies and local consumer protection offices that respond to consumer complaints.”
  • ConsumerReports.org – “Consumer Reports® and ConsumerReports.org® are published by Consumers Union, an expert, independent nonprofit organization whose mission is to work for a fair, just, and safe marketplace for all consumers and to empower consumers to protect themselves. To achieve this mission, we test, inform, and protect. To maintain our independence and impartiality, CU accepts no outside advertising, no free test samples, and has no agenda other than the interests of consumers. CU supports itself through the sale of our information products and services, individual contributions, and a few noncommercial grants. Consumers Union is governed by a board of 18 directors, who are elected by CU members and meet three times a year. CU’s President, James Guest, oversees a staff of more than 450.”
  • Consumers Union – “Consumers Union (CU) is an expert, independent, nonprofit organization, whose mission is to work for a fair, just, and safe marketplace for all consumers. CU publishes Consumer Reports and ConsumerReports.org in addition to two newsletters, Consumer Reports on Health and Consumer Reports Money Adviser with combined subscriptions of more than 7 million. Consumers Union also has more than 500,000 online activists who help work to change legislation and the marketplace in favor of the consumer interest. Since its founding in 1936, Consumers Union has never taken any advertising or freebies of any kind. The organization generates more than $160 million in revenue and a staff of more than 500 work at either CU’s 50 state-of-the-art labs in Yonkers, NY; its 327-acre auto test facility in East Haddam, CT.; or the three advocacy offices in Washington DC, Austin, TX, and San Francisco, CA.”
  • ConsumerWatchdog.org – “Consumer Watchdog (formerly The Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights [FTCR]) is a nationally recognized consumer group that has been fighting corrupt corporations and crooked politicians since 1985. Over the years, Consumer Watchdog has saved Americans billions of dollars and improved countless peoples’ lives by speaking out on behalf of patients, ratepayers and policyholders. Big Business has an endless amount of money and thousands of lobbyists working everyday to protect and increase their profits – no matter who it hurts. We get in their way and work to protect and improve the lives of American consumers and taxpayers.”
  • CorpWatch.org – “CorpWatch investigates and exposes corporate violations of human rights, environmental crimes, fraud and corruption around the world. We work to foster global justice, independent media activism and democratic control over corporations.”
  • DirectLendingSolutions.com – “Direct Lending Solutions is located in Southlake Texas and was founded in August of 2004. We try to help educate consumers about various consumer-credit issues, consumer threats, the variety of finance programs available to them. Among some of the topics discussed are mortgage/refinancing programs, credit cards, identity theft protection and recovery, divorce-debt concerns, student loan repayment, bankruptcy rules/regulations, and many other consumer-credit issues. Our staff writers have over 10 years of professional research/writing experience, compiling comprehensive articles about numerous topics, including consumer credit & finance. We continue researching the ever changing consumer-credit industry. We continue to add information frequently, and occasionally distribute our new articles via our RSS feed. Our articles are always fresh, and unduplicated.”
  • Federal Citizen Information Center – “FCIC provides the answers to questions about the Federal Government and everyday consumer issues whether citizens write, call or log on.”
  • Federal Trade Commission – “The FTC deals with issues that touch the economic life of every American. It is the only federal agency with both consumer protection and competition jurisdiction in broad sectors of the economy. The FTC pursues vigorous and effective law enforcement; advances consumers’ interests by sharing its expertise with federal and state legislatures and U.S. and international government agencies; develops policy and research tools through hearings, workshops, and conferences; and creates practical and plain-language educational programs for consumers and businesses in a global marketplace with constantly changing technologies.”
  • Public Interest Resource Groups – “U.S. PIRG, the federation of state Public Interest Research Groups (PIRGs), stands up to powerful special interests on behalf of the American public, working to win concrete results for our health and our well-being. With a strong network of researchers, advocates, organizers and students in state capitols across the country, we take on the special interests on issues, such as product safety,political corruption, prescription drugs and voting rights,where these interests stand in the way of reform and progress.”
  • U.S. Department of Justice – “To enforce the law and defend the interests of the United States according to the law; to ensure public safety against threats foreign and domestic; to provide federal leadership in preventing and controlling crime; to seek just punishment for those guilty of unlawful behavior; and to ensure fair and impartial administration of justice for all Americans.”
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