If your new vehicle has manufacturing defect, that directly affects functioning and safety of the vehicle, then you can simply hire an advocate, or get help from car consumer helpline, or a lemon car helpline to get help.

Even if your car doesnt work as is described by manufacturers guideline, you can still get a full refund, as long as there is a warranty.

Lemon laws in California cover almost all vehicle types and also used vehicles while there are some states that do not cover certain types of automobiles and used cars.

If you have indeed purchase a lemon, there are a few ways in which your interests will be protected by the lemon laws in California. You can either choose a replacement for the vehicle or monetary compensation equal to the purchase price. This compensation will also include any additional expenditure that you may incurred to procure the vehicle such as sales tax, registration charges, repair charges, towing expense and finance charges.

If you are an Apple boy or girl, like me – then you won’t travel without your iphone, ipad, ipod or macbook anywhere. However, I ask you to think again. The famous customer service that has made Apple the number one name in US and Europe is infamous in India.

The number of stores, customer service centers of Apple in India can be counted on one hand for starters.

Number two – don’t expect cool dudes helping you out in the Apple store of Delhi or Mumbai. These Macbooks for display on stores are not even connected to the Internet. In other words, you cant ‘test’ browse an Apple in a store in India.

You have to LOOK at it and let the sales person handle it. DON’T TOUCH, if you are not here to buy – is the mantra.

I took my Mac book to India. However, due to lack of knowledge about power surges, my macbook and the macbook power adapter stopped working (after the voltage surge that happened in my office). Then, I went to the Apple Store which was unlike any Apple store I had ever been to. You cant touch, you cant play, you cant expect the salesperson to smile or help you at all.

So, this is what I found out.

Apparently, voltage surges of upto 500 volts are NORMAL in India. So, power adapters and laptops and electronic equipment from United States MUST use a stabilizer and a voltage converter from 110 to 220 volts. Or, you will end with a broken laptop or a defective power adapter.

Although the problem is universal with Toshiba, hp and Sony computers – the customer service centers are located every few blocks. Plus, these brands EDUCATE the customer and do a upsell, the same day, you buy the Toshiba adapter. Result- Toshiba and Lenovo are two of the number one laptop brands in India.

What about the world’s number one, coolest computer – Apple? Where are they in INDIA??? Nowhere. The customer service is non existent. There are virtually no customer service centers you can send your laptop for repair. It goes back to CHINA???? Or California, if the laptop is under warranty.

Did I tell you that I ended up buying another macbook power adapter for double what I would pay for in US. (I paid $160). That ALSO nearly exploded (It was sparking all the time) before I went storming in the Apple store in a big mall in New Delhi. That finally got the Apple employee’s attention. He changed it and finally told me to buy a stabilizer as well. Why couldnt he tell me this when I first came.

Hence, the words infamous Apple service in India, rather than famous!

Starbucks and Microsoft showed suprisingly good results, whereas Amazon.com’s share went down 6% after they posted their quarterly profits. Despite the pro consumer protection laws, and limited credit card spending, American Express doubled their profits in Quarter 1. If that isn’t good news, what is?

First-quarter earnings are on track to set a record for the percentage of companies beating estimates. Eighty-five percent of the 98 S&P 500 companies that have reported so far have beaten estimates, well above the 61 percent in a typical quarter, according to Thomson Reuters.

With US government tightening is watch on credit card companies, there has been a change in the way we are issued credit, and a transparency in the monies we owe. If we get a credit card statement today, it is clearly written – how much is owed, and the time it will take for a consumer to repay it with minimum payments.

Obama’s consumer protection plan puts limits on the size of banks and focuses on consumer protections.

According to smartmoney.com, “Such broad topics of course are of interest to everyday consumers, as well as members of the investment community. This plan may also focus on smaller questions of – whether derivatives should be sold on a regulated exchange, corporate governance and regulation of various players in the financial industry.

Actually, President Barack Obama wants sweeping new rules for Wall Street, that, may lead to legislation overhaul of the U.S. regulatory structure.

According to a news report in reuters, “Tapping into widespread public anger at Wall Street over the economic fallout from the 2008-2009 financial crisis, Obama will call on big banks to get behind a Democratic package of reforms that appears headed for a Senate vote next week.”

Will this help the common consumer? In a word, yes.

However, the president may need support in the senate, and most important, the support of the common people, and the consumers that he is fighting for.

Innovation has been central to this approach; the launch of Apple’s new ipad is a good example of how a company will try to jumpstart sales in a down economy. Other more traditional interventions include bundling new products, offering incentive deals, lowering prices, tacking on added features and bonus, etc. These solutions demonstrate a predictable reaction to hard times and certainly look better than doing nothing but they can also negatively impact the bottom line by reducing net margins, even when volume sales increase. Trying to navigate a large or small company successfully out of a recession can be tricky, no doubt. However, there is one approach that often ends up on the boardroom floor in the panic to reduce costs; namely, safeguard your existing customer base.

As a professional consumer advocate and 20 year member of the Consortium, I always hear corporate executives boast about their quality products and excellent customer service, but a company’s Achilles heel, when a slowdown hits is its customers’ temptation to move to cheaper products or services regardless of reputation. The temptation for customers to jump ship runs highest among organizations where a customer relationship has not been cultivated.

While developing and investing in this relationship is nothing new to modern American corporations, the techniques used to foster a stronger customer bond are not given much attention. It seems relationship building is a luxury of boon economies and surpluses when, in fact, companies need to invest the most in their customer relationships when wallets are the hardest to open.

The majority of customer service representatives that my consumer advocacy firm deal with have forgotten that the way for a business to be successful in the long run is to focus on satisfying the consumer. Today’s customer service representatives have become short-term thinkers in the business world. They only care about increasing productivity and saving the company money for today.

This approach will not work over an extended period as there are too many competitors in the marketplace. Couple this mindset with today’s economic climate and many companies have a perfect storm in the making that will result in a loss of its most loyal customer base. So, how does a company strengthen its ties with the consumer?

Companies that study, analyze and act on serious complaints about products or services are on the right track. They should make it an obsession to know the word-on-the-street about their product. Instead of addressing returns, refunds, or complaints as existing in a vacuum, organizations interested in preserving their customer base will delve deeply into the issue and plug it for everyone before a firestorm is created. Hiding a customer service or product issue under the rug to avoid short term costs will cost that company the loyal, long term consumers they were counting on in hard times.

If companies don’t have the means to access customer feedback, getting connected with a top rate consumer advocacy firm is a great way to save a business by letting senior management know what is going on in their organization. Most of the executives that my company has worked with are too busy running the company and developing a strategic vision to listen to a customer service complaint. Consumer advocacy therefore becomes a vital instrument for both parties: the consumer and the company. In cases where the customer is not making headway using a company’s traditional customer service input, a good consumer advocacy firm can be engaged to ensure that message is heard.

What better service could a company hope for than the opportunity to study serious complaints? Corporate executives do not want to lose your business so they will push their employees to produce higher quality products and provide improved customer service. The motivation is simple: The executives want to increase their market share and if that translates into better service and pricing for the customer, everyone wins

At all times but especially during a recession, corporate executives should be thanking consumer advocacy firms for giving voice to their customers and helping them deliver improved quality. Consumer advocacy helps companies by identifying and communicating their weak points. If consumers don’t voice their opinion (or find a consumer advocacy firm to do it for them), then no one will know why a particular company is no longer popular. This truism is even more relevant today when a bad business reputation can be heard by millions of people with the Internet. Sometimes a bad business reputation can become viral. Conversely, if corporations encourage a consumer’s loyalty, the consumer will e-mail, chat, text all of their family and friends about the great products and service they have received. Loyal customers will become a company’s greatest advocates and will steady the ride over rough seas.

Consider this: I had a pain in one tooth and went to a dentist who accepted my insurance. She drained my infection two days in a row, and put in a crown within a week, which was a different color. The crown was put in by her assistant and another dentist who didn’t even CHECK to see if the abscess in my gums had dried up or not! I understand that abscess is hard to treat, but at the same time a follow up by the SAME DENTIST who did the first root canal would have been professional.

According to my current endodontist, who is excellent, “This resulted in the spreading of infection”.

And, I ended up losing my teeth, and had to get an expensive dental implant. All this could have been prevented, if the dentist who did my root canal had been present and had checked the abscess on the day of my crowning.

After some enquiry, I found out that not only was this dentist not an endodontist, but was also NOT board certified.

Really, it was no one’s fault but mine, for not being an educated consumer..

I should have asked whether she was board certified and a specialist before letting her mess with my teeth.

I couldn’t even take legal action, since dentists make you sign 20 non-liability forms BEFORE they see you?

What we as consumers can do is to be aware and educated, about consumer law and medical licensure.. This can save us a whole lot of trouble later.

Let me tell you, medicine related specialty certification in the United States is a voluntary process by the physician or a dentist.

According to ABMS, “While medical licensure sets the minimum competency requirements to diagnose and treat patients, it is not specialty specific. Board certification — and the Gold Star — demonstrate a physician’s exceptional expertise in a particular specialty and/or subspecialty of medical practice.”

To achieve Diplomate status, an endodontist has to show great inner motivation and exceptional commitment to continuing professional growth. A Board-Certified endodontist has to spend thousands of hours working to achieve a high level of expertise, knowledge, experience, pursue more education in endodontics and provide the highest possible quality care to patient.

Had I been an educated and aware consumer, I would have asked the dentist, BEFORE I signed any papers, whether she was a member of the American Board of Endodontics. I did not, and allowed her to give me care that turned out to be a disaster.

If you have any consumer related queries, please contact our team at customerservice@letterchamp.com.

Department of Climate Change in Australia exposed LG as a company that abused the voluntary code ‘ethics’.

According to smarthouse.com, “The move comes as the NSW State Government projects price hikes for electricity will reach 65% over the next three years and research companies predict that Australians will start moving to “Smart appliances” in an effort to save money.”

Apparently, the consumer electronics laws in United States are far more stringent in some cases (depending on state), compared to some other countries. Although electronic companies blatantly over advertise their ‘claims’ here, but fear of consumer law and liability does keep them in their limits.

As far as the price goes, it is every consumer electronic company’s endeavor to keep the price competitive in the US market. However, with new e-waste laws, and recycling of electronic waste becoming a big issue not just in US, but the whole world – there is no doubt, the prices will go up here too.

So far, 20 states, plus New York City have passed legislation mandating statewide e-waste recycling. Several more states are considering legislation in 2010 (in yellow below). All laws except California use the Producer Responsibility approach, where the manufacturers must pay for recycling.

California consumer law may also change its tune in the coming years, and make us pay for electronic waste just like the CRV.

We were up at Barnes and Nobles the other day, and, noticed a product recall for an home improvement book. This one was a DIY for how to set up electricity and home wiring, that were being recalled because of fire hazard. Apparently, the technical diagrams and electrical codes in the books were incorrect, and, if someone followed the instructions, it could cause a major fire hazard.

Another example, Pier 1 Imports recalled glitter tea lights due to fire hazard. And, then my friend recently returned her Acer laptop, that poses a fire hazard.

And, a surprising one was by Starbucks!

Starbucks Coffee Company voluntarily recalled about 11,000 (in the United States) and 1,200 (in Canada) Glass Water Bottles. The glass water bottle and/or its stopper can shatter when the consumer is removing or inserting the stopper, posing a laceration hazard to consumers.

Here are some interesting product recalls that were done voluntarily with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.

In co-operation with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), FAF Inc., voluntarily recalled about 55,000 Metal Necklaces meant for little girls. The recalled necklaces contain high levels of cadmium. Cadmium is toxic if ingested by young children and can cause adverse health effects.

In cooperation with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), Summit Treestands LLC, recalled about 6,800 Talon Hunting Hang-on Tree Stands and Brackets/Straps. The tree stand can unexpectedly detach from the tree when the brackets fail, posing a fall hazard to consumers.

AMX, of Richardson, Texas, is voluntarily recalling about 8,600 Rechargeable Batteries sold with MVP 5000 Series Wireless Touch Panels. A defect in the battery can cause the battery pack to overheat and rupture. This poses a fire and burn hazard to consumers.

Zippo is recalling about 17,500 Zippo Slatkin & Co. Candle Lighters. Apparently, these lighters can produce an excessive flame when adjusted to maximum flame setting, posing a burn hazard to consumers.

Are you aware that you are a consumer whenever you buy a good or a service and are protected by certain laws?
Technically, a consumer is someone who acquires goods or services for their personal use or ownership rather than for resale, or production.

Consumer interests can also be protected by promoting competition in the markets which directly and indirectly serve consumers, consistent with economic efficiency, but this topic is treated in Competition law.

According to a wiki definition on the web, consumer laws were designed to ensure fair competition and the free flow of truthful information in the marketplace.

The main goal of consumer advocacy or consumer law is to educate the clients with the best skills.
Education should be conveyed in detail with all the rights that a client can have when they are being followed by a debt collector.

These rights are being provided by the state laws and FDCPA means, Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.
Consumer advocacy is not only created to impart education in detail but all together to provide you a protection shield. If you are dealing with the web site which are truly not listening to you after the work is done by you. Then, you can absolutely fight against the web sites for getting the payment from them through and with the help of consumer advocacy.

In the United States a variety of laws at both the federal or state levels regulate consumer affairs. Among them are the following:

Federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act
Fair Credit Reporting Act, Truth in Lending Act
Fair Credit Billing Act
The Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act

Federal consumer protection laws are mainly enforced by the Federal Trade Commission and the U.S. Department of Justice.

At the state level, many states have a Department of Consumer Affairs devoted to regulating certain industries and protecting consumers who use goods and services from those industries.

For example, in the U.S. state of California, the California Department of Consumer Affairs regulates about 2.3 million professionals in over 230 different professions, through its forty regulatory entities.

In addition, California encourages its consumers to act as private attorneys general through the liberal provisions of its Consumers Legal Remedies Act, Cal. Civil Code § 1750 et seq.

California has the strongest consumer protection laws of any US state, partly because of rigorous advocacy and lobbying by groups such as Utility Consumers’ Action Network, Consumer Federation of California and Privacy Rights Clearinghouse.

Other states have been the leaders in specific aspects of consumer protection. For example Florida, Delaware and Minnesota have legislated requirements that contracts be written at reasonable readability levels as a large proportion of contracts cannot be understood by most consumers who sign them.

To overcome with the huge credit card bills which you receive at the end of each month is to select consumer advocacy.

The work of the consumer advocacy Group is to provide clients with the maximum protection from false and misleading advertising and sales practices.

There are consumer advocacy that have specialized their selves in debt collection work which can be definitely an effective option to get you help through credit collection process. There are consumer advocacy or few unions like American Consumers Union, United Consumer Advocacy Network, and many more are set up to act as a lawyer for the protection between both of the parties. Most of the advocates help clients in all possible manners by giving them with their education and protection.

LetterChamp is a full-service firm, handling aspects of the customer service dispute resolution process, including research, documentation, written correspondence, phone calls and product returns. We help our clients obtain cash refunds or product replacements from manufacturers, retailers and service providers around the country. Contact us at www.letterchamp.com.

As a professional consumer advocate, I always hear corporate executives boast  about their quality products and excellent customer service.  They say their superior customer service represents their competitive advantage in the marketplace.  However, these companies don’t always deliver on high quality products or service.  .

At LetterChamp, we believe that corporations should be held accountable for their products and services.

Most of the customer service representatives that LetterChamp consumer advocates deal with have forgotten that the way for a business to be successful in the long run is to focus on satisfying the consumer.  The customer service representatives have become short-term thinkers in the business world.  They only care about increasing productivity and saving the company money for today.  This approach will not work over an extended period as there are too many competitors in the marketplace.  Today, it is easy to replace a supplier and without customers, the corporation would go bankrupt and close its doors.

Consumer advocacy is a great way to save a business by letting senior management know what is going on in their organization.  Most of the executives that LetterChamp has worked with are too busy running the company and developing a strategic vision to listen a customer service complaint.  However, a well-written letter from a disgruntled customer to these corporate executives gives the consumer a voice that will be heard throughout the organization.  The corporate executives do not want to lose your business so they will push their employees to produce higher quality products and provide excellent customer service.  The motivation is simple:  The executives want to increase their market share and if that translates into better service and pricing for the customer, everyone wins

Corporate executives should be thanking consumer advocacy firms for helping by giving voice to their customers and helping them deliver improved quality on service and products. LetterChamp helps companies by identifying and communicating their weak points.  If the consumers don’t voice their opinion (or find a consumer advocacy firm to do it for them) than no one will know why they are  no longer patronizing a particular company.  This truism is even more relevant today when a bad business reputation can be heard by millions of people with the Internet, sometimes a bad business reputation can become viral.  Conversely, if corporations encourage a consumer to become loyal, the consumer will e-mail, chat, text all of their family and friends about the great products and service they have received.   Loyal customers will become a company’s greatest advocates and can actually reverse the course of a sinking company.