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A booklet to help you avert consumer problems, and fix the ones that happen anyway

If you’re a savvy consumer, you take the time to research a purchase up front so you can avoid hassles later on. But sometimes, in spite of everything, you get burned. When that happens, you’ll have to take action to get the problem corrected – but how should you go about it?.

There’s a new resource available to help you with both the “before” and “after” phases of an important purchase. Called the “Consumer Action Handbook,” it’s a completely updated version of the “Consumer Resource Handbook” published by the U.S. Federal Consumer Information Center, a unit of the U.S. General Services Administration.

What to do before you buy
The first section of the 140-page handbook has consumer information on subjects such as car repair, purchase and leasing, utilities, health care, privacy and travel. It also provides these general suggestions:

• Ask friends and family for recommendations based on their experience.
• Shop around. Compare prices and get more than one estimate.
• Learn about existing warranties and compare them.
• Check out a company's complaint record with your local consumer affairs office and the Better Business Bureau, including the nature of the complaints filed.
• Make sure that the company has all appropriate state and local licenses and has complied with any other regulations.
• Read and understand any contract you are asked to sign. Make sure that any verbal promises made by the salesperson are also in writing.
• Check out a seller's refund and return policy and get it in writing.
• Consider paying by credit card. If you later have a legitimate dispute with the seller, you do not have to pay a charge made on your credit card.

If you are disappointed
If things go wrong, the handbook advises you to begin by writing a complaint letter to the company involved, and even gives you a form to follow. In the letter, you document the history of the transaction, including the name of the product and its serial number, date and place of purchase, the problem that followed and your request for specific action.

You should end the letter by asking for a reply within a certain time period, and state that you are ready to get help from a consumer protection agency or the Better Business Bureau if you don’t receive one.

Comprehensive lists to help you
Suppose your complaint letter brings you scant satisfaction, or none at all. It’s time to ask for help. The handbook is ready to lead you to the right place.

Its second section is a Consumer Assistance Directory with thousands of names, addresses, telephone numbers, Web site links and e-mail addresses. You can consult national consumer organizations, better business bureaus, trade associations, state and local consumer protection offices, state agencies, military consumer offices and Federal agencies. There is also contact information for 653 corporations.

You can order a copy of the “Consumer Action Handbook” by calling 1-800-688-9889 or sending your name and address to Handbook, Federal Consumer Information Center, Pueblo, CO 81009. Or you can view an electronic version on the agency’s Web site.

August 24, 2000

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