Jim Guest President

Spring--bring it on. It was a tough winter. Plenty of people grumbled, and plenty of others responded with the classic "everyone complains about the weather, but no one does anything about it." We wondered what other, more actionable problems people were griping about. We checked with the folks who hear a lot of them: the National Association of Attorneys General (NAAG, believe it or not) to ask for 2002’s hit parade. The state AG’s office is where you’ll usually find the office of consumer protection--a good place to register your complaints about products or services.

Another good place is Consumers Union’s Web site, www.consumersunion.org. A new feature, the Take Action Center, lets consumers voice their opinions directly to state and federal decision makers and agencies, and to the media. You can find sample letters that make it easy to write to the Federal Communications Commission about cell phones or complain to Congress about cable rates. We post good and bad developments in consumer protection, recent votes by your lawmakers, and a list of media outlets in your area--just type in your ZIP code.

So what are NAAG’s top five complaints across the country?

Not surprisingly, auto-related complaints--including car repair, car-rental companies, and used-car dealers--topped the list, as they have for eight of the past nine years. More and more, auto consumers are pressured to buy credit life insurance, extended warranties, and other overpriced add-ons that provide huge profits to sellers but little value to consumers. States should act to ensure reasonable prices and fair contract terms for these products.

Number two on the list is telecommunications. Slamming (switching your long-distance carrier without your permission), cramming (slipping unauthorized charges onto your phone bill), and billing issues were widespread.

California is considering a telecommunications "bill of rights" that would be the first in the nation to protect cell-phone customers as well as landline users. It would require phone companies to fully disclose rates and fees, provide accurate and readable bills, and protect customers’ personal information. It should serve as a model for other states. You can use www.consumersunion.org to make yourself heard by federal and state officials: Just click on Wireless Watchdog.

Home repair and construction rank third on NAAG’s list. Texas consumers, for example, suffer from a lack of sufficient building codes and an inequitable system for resolving complaints about faulty construction. The proposed fix is not much better. Consumers who file a complaint would appear before a commission made up primarily of construction-industry reps. Consumers Union supports a rival bill requiring registration of home builders and a more balanced commission.

Internet complaints, including those concerning spam, are up sharply and now rank fourth on the list, up from eighth in 2001. Many complaints involved identity theft. For tips on protecting your personal and financial data, log on to Consumers Union’s Web-credibility site, www.consumerwebwatch.org.

Telemarketing rings in at number five but, one hopes, not for much longer. The Federal Trade Commission has instituted a national Do Not Call list, which will bar most telemarketers from calling the people who have registered their phone number, starting this summer, according to the FTC. (We’ll alert you when it’s functional.)

Some states already have Do Not Call lists. If you’ve signed up with your state’s registry, your number may be put on the national list automatically. For more information, go to www.ftc.gov/donotcall. Registering your number on a national list should go a long way toward freeing up your dinner hour. It may even give you time to deal with some real bugs. Like mosquitoes. (See our May 2003 reports on West Nile virus and insect repellents.)