Consumer Protection Division offers advice, mediation
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With offices in Northampton and Greenfield, the Consumer Protection Division of the Northwestern district attorney's office is the go-to place for consumers seeking information or lodging a complaint.
The office focuses on outreach and prevention services for consumers in Hampshire and Franklin counties, and also mediates disputes between consumers and businesses.
Janice Garrett, the division's director, and Caroline Smith, its case coordinator, recently sat down with the Gazette to talk about what they do and how they hope to improve the services the division provides.
Prior to joining the division in 2000, Garrett worked in the Office of Consumer Information for the city of Springfield and produced a consumer segment for Channel 40 in Springfield called "On Your Side." She works in the Greenfield office and handles Franklin County inquiries.
Smith has been with the division for about 10 years. She previously spent two decades working in retail management and sales. She handles Hampshire County.
Northwestern District Attorney David Sullivan also sat in on the interview, along with Deputy District Attorney Janice Healy, who oversees the Consumer Protection Division.
What follows are edited excerpts from the interview.
Q: What is your vision for the Consumer Protection Division?
Sullivan: I think the real key behind a consumer protection unit is to have that outreach to consumers and businesses and let them know what their rights are and that our office is there to protect them ...
The overall mission is to really be proactive and make sure that people are protected, and that if their consumer rights need to be enforced, that we're there to help them get through that process.
Q: Will there be changes to the division under your leadership?
Sullivan: We've had a wonderful consumer protection unit and it's really just going the next step further to make sure that people know we're here and we're here to help them ... We'll have a revised website at northwesternda.org that provides a lot of consumer information that people can just tap right into for any type of consumer issue.
Q: How will the website fit into this new outreach effort?
Garrett: The website isn't done, but it's expanded. It will be ongoing. One of the things I really want to have are advisories so that if we hear of a particular issue that's hitting our area, a scam for example, we can put the information out there. It will change and be updated on a regular basis.
Sullivan: We're going to try and put all of our pamphlets and our partners' pamphlets on the website so that people can download them. That will give them immediate answers to some of the responsibilities that businesses have, but also consumers.
Q: When a consumer contacts you, what happens?
Smith: They usually call us first and express their concerns. We try to walk them through what happened. If we think it's something that's appropriate for us, which in most cases it is, we'll send them a complaint form.
On the bottom of the form it will say, What outcome do you seek? That's where they will say, I want my money back, I want the car repaired, or the dishwasher replaced or whatever. We then verify everything that they've said as far as the time frame, the dates, etc.
Then we'll call the company and explain who we are and that we have a complaint filed by Mrs. Jones. There's usually another side to the story so we listen to both sides. We tell the business what the consumer is requesting and they may make a counter offer, they may just say no, or they may say they weren't aware it was a problem, which is rare because the consumer usually tries to resolve it themselves before coming to us.
Q: What if there is no resolution to a given complaint?
Smith: We would refer them either to small claims court, face-to-face mediation or a private attorney.
Garrett: Sometimes if there's an agency that oversees an issue, we may refer them to that agency. For example, there's a new consumer financial protection bureau in Washington and they will take credit card problems. We're always trying to make sure that when we refer someone, that it's someplace they can get some help.
Sullivan: (Garrett and Smith) are the chief navigators. There's so many different numbers, so many different places that unless you have that lifeline ... consumers get frustrated, they give up and they forfeit their rights. So it's important to have them either mediate the case or provide the right avenue to get relief.
Smith: Even a case that we have to close as unresolved, to us it's still a win in a way. We at least listened to them, got them some information. Maybe we didn't get them the resolution that they wanted, but they're that much closer to learning about how to resolve the next issue.
Q: What kind of complaints do you get?
Healy: The most we've been getting as of the last year is retail sales rights, issues related to that. Auto sales and repair. Debt collection, especially with the very tough economic times.
Q: What are some examples of retail sales complaints?
Smith: The most recent ones have been Internet-related. They are getting solicited through the Internet, they send the money and then they don't get the product. ... A lot of people are buying cars online. They have a picture of a 1999 Mustang looking really hot and then they get a rusted shell delivered to their house.
Other areas include mail solicitations, store refund policies, warranty issues. We get a lot of appliance issues like refrigerators, washers and dryers. They've owned it three months and had it repaired three times and they want a new one. It's different than a car where you have the three-time repair right. You don't necessarily have that with an appliance. They don't know that. They just think three times, I should have a new one.
Q: What are some scams people should watch out for?
Garrett: There's a very clever scam. They're cashier's checks, or bank checks, and they look real. In the beginning, when this first started happening, I think around 2006, they fooled the banks because they looked so real.
They say you've won a million dollars, or whatever the prize might be, and then they give you a check to cover taxes, fees and other expenses. In the past, we used to always tell people, If you won a contest it shouldn't cost you anything.
So the answer (from those running the scam) is this check. They ask you to put the check in the bank, then they say we need you to wire money to cover those taxes. You take money out of your bank account and you wire it. Then the bank comes back and says, that check didn't clear. Who's responsible? The consumer is.
I would advise anyone that gets one of those checks to give me a call. Or come and see me and we can do some research.
Q: You don't handle business-to-business complaints, but what are some ways you work with businesses?
Garrett: When we're talking to a business we'll certainly tell them what their rights and responsibilities are. Say we're talking about a return policy. It should be posted. The consumer should know about it before they make a purchase. A company can have any (policy) they want, as long as the consumer knows about it before they make the purchase. That doesn't mean they can put it on the receipt because you don't get the receipt until after you make a purchase.
Healy: There are groups and organizations we also partner with. The Mass Bankers Association and chambers of commerce. It's something that we definitely want to help businesses make the right decisions as well.
Q: Can you give some examples of specific cases?
Garrett: There are a lot of car issues. The heads-up for people are to know their rights before they go and purchase a car, especially used cars. Sometimes people can get confused about what their rights are.
Smith: They think they have a three-day right to cancel a car purchase and they don't. They hate to hear that.
Garrett: In the case of a used car sale, we walk them through the steps of the state's Lemon Law. (The law provides protection for new and used vehicle purchases that have serious defects or fail inspection.)
They have their purchase and sale, so we can check to make sure that they had the car inspected within the first seven days. A lot of times they will say yes, but it was like 10 days, so they've missed the Lemon Law.
If it appears that they don't meet the qualifications for that law, they might meet the used vehicle warranty law. And we go through that. ... We match the paperwork with their rules and rights. Maybe the brakes don't work, so it's still in warranty. Maybe the dealer won't accept returning the car, but they'll fix your brakes for you. If the business turns them down, we can contact them and say, "My understanding is they are still under the used vehicle warranty law."
Q: Are there other examples?
Garrett: You buy a product and you feel it's defective, but the business wants a chance to fix it. This falls under retail rights. You (the consumer) say, I have a right to a return, replacement or a refund. The business says, I want to fix it. That's when we might get involved. If the business won't replace the product, we might call the manufacturer and see if they will. Or maybe we'll do a conference call where we get both parties on the phone and we say, Can we work something out here? You try to find a compromise.
Healy: Contractor cases are always complicated and difficult, especially when there are so many exceptions to the law. Inside painters are not covered, outside painters are covered. It makes it very complex for consumers to navigate through that crazy world.
Garrett: If people are planning on doing a home improvement project, we can send them a lot of information about it. We can send them a copy of what their contract should have in it. We can find out if complaints have been filed against a contractor statewide. We can tell them about the guarantee fund. We can tell them about who should be registered, who doesn't need to be registered.
Smith: Or say someone had a gift certificate to a restaurant that is closed. We have to walk them through and hope that maybe the new restaurant will take a gift certificate, or help them track down a business if they've moved or closed all together.
Healy: Certain businesses, like gyms, often have a bond. You can get compensated through a bond that they have to post. Knowing that will help the consumer get some relief if they're not able to get through on a telephone because the business has closed.
