Buyer beware: Consumers filed nearly 2,000 complaints with state last year
Colorado consumers filed 1,984 complaints in 2009 with the state attorney general’s office — and 2010 is off to a banner start, with more than 600 complaints already filed.
Colorado Attorney General John Suthers released the numbers Monday to kick off National Consumer Protection Week. The total for 2009 was down slightly from 2,178 complaints in 2008.
“Protecting Colorado consumers from deceptive trade practices, antitrust violations, unfair lending practices and a range of other violations of our consumer-protection laws is one of the most important charges of my office,” Suthers said in a statement. “Thanks to our efforts and the outreach of partners in the nonprofit and media sectors, Colorado consumers are, on the whole, very well informed of the dangers they face online, through the mail and over the telephone.”
The runaway leader in complaints last year, with 627, was a Grand Junction company named National Energy Rebate Fund, which offered hefty product rebates but made it exceedingly difficult for customers to collect. The attorney general’s office reached a default judgement against the company in January that will return $4.4 million to consumers, said Mike Saccone, communications director for the attorney general’s pffice.
Some well-known companies were also on the list of top complaint generators, including DirecTV, Dish Network and Qwest. Most of those complaints stemmed from disputes over contract terms or fees, Saccone said.
Collectively, rebate offers and cable and satellite television companies led the list of complaints sorted by business type, followed by roofing contractors, health food and nutritional supplements and timeshare resales.
Saccone said some problems could be avoided if consumers read the fine print on contracts carefully. However, he encouraged people who believe they’ve been wronged to file a complaint.
“We definitely look into each complaint,” he said.
Consumers can file a complaint by calling 1-800-222-4444 or online at coloradoattorneygeneral.gov/complaint.
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Call the writer at 636-0275
