Why filing a complaint still matters
It might feel right now like there’s no one looking out for US consumers. But a wide array of federal, state and local regulators and watchdogs are tasked with targeting company fraud and deception. If you have an intractable problem with a company, it is always worth filing a complaint to every relevant government office, consumer advocates say – despite government budget cuts, layoffs and the steady rollback of federal regulatory oversight. That’s because complaints are often logged and shared with Congress, state legislators and the public. They’re used to determine budgets, structure federal investigations and organize lawsuits. In other words, yes, the US regulatory system is broken when it comes to consumer rights. But it is not going to get any better without angry US residents providing evidence about how bad the problem is.
How to prepare your complaint
When you’re preparing a complaint, make sure to document correspondence and calls, order numbers, dates and dollar amounts, consumer advocates say. Keep transcripts of your phone conversations with time and dates, and screenshots of conversations with chatbots.
Federal agencies to contact
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) takes complaints on general product and service fraud and scams here. It often refers cases to other agencies and collaborates with states on investigations. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) handles complaints within the financial services industry, including credit scorers and non-bank lenders, here and still appears to be actively contacting companies to resolve issues, despite cuts. You can search the Consumer Product Safety Commission’s database of product recalls and warnings here and file a complaint about an unsafe product here. Report airline travel delays, baggage problems and discrimination at the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) consumer protection office. The FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center takes complaints about criminal activity online, including fraud, here. The bar for the FBI to launch a criminal investigation is generally higher than at agencies that handle civil complaints. Register complaints about moving companies, trucks, buses and other transport here. You can request an “external appeal” of a health insurer’s coverage denial in some states; a federal appeals process was suspended by Health and Human Services on 1 July. More information is here. While many US federal consumer watchdogs have been downsized, they are still quietly taking customer complaints and acting on them, activity on public databases indicates.
State regulators
Attorneys general are Americans’ state watchdog, with the power to investigate and bring cases against companies that drive up costs or defraud residents of that state. They often oversee states’ consumer-protection offices, which can be found through this US government website. You can find direct links to file state-by-state complaints through this National Association of Attorneys General interactive map.
City and county options
If you’re a tax-paying resident of a large city in the United States, you might have a consumer-protection official right downtown. Many of these officials are aggressively trying to step up their consumer-protection efforts to counteract federal budget cuts and layoffs. City residents can dial 311 to reach a consumer-protection bureau or file complaints online in New York City, Chicago, Washington DC, Baltimore and others. Consumer advocates also encourage defrauded customers to write to their Congress member in the House of Representatives, who might champion curbs on a company if it affects many constituents.
