Consumer Protection

LOOKING OUT FOR CONSUMERS

CoPIRG’s consumer program works to alert the public to hidden dangers and scams and to ban anti-consumer practices and unsafe products.

TROUBLE IN TOYLAND

For 30 years, CoPIRG’s "Trouble In Toyland" report has surveyed store shelves and identified choking hazards, noise hazards and other dangers. Our report has led to at least 150 recalls and other regulatory actions over the years.

Get our tips for avoiding dangerous toys.

BIGGER BANKS, BIGGER FEES

In April, CoPIRG released a report in which we surveyed more than 350 bank branches and revealed that fewer than half of branches obeyed their legal duty to fully disclose fees to prospective customers, while one in four provided no fee information at all. We also found that despite widespread stories about the “death” of free checking, free and low-cost checking choices are still widely available, if consumers shop around.

Find out how to beat high bank fees.

SEE ALL CONSUMER RESOURCES

Get the reports

News Release | U.S. PIRG | Consumer Tips, Consumer Protection, Financial Reform

Marriott discloses second security breach in 16 months

Marriott, the world’s largest hotel chain in terms of guest rooms, disclosed Tuesday that up to 5.2 million customers were impacted by a security breach related to the company’s loyalty app.

> Keep Reading

News Release | CoPIRG Foundation | Consumer Protection

Attorney General Weiser demands online marketplaces end coronavirus price gouging

Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser is calling on the country’s top online marketplaces to crack down on price gouging amidst the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. Weiser joined a bipartisan group of 33 attorneys general, led by Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro along with co-leading Attorneys General Hector Balderas (NM), William Tong (CT), and T.J. Donovan (VT), in sending a letter today urging the companies -- Amazon, Craigslist, eBay, Facebook and Walmart -- to quickly implement preventative measures on their platforms to ensure that consumers don’t get taken advantage of during this public health crisis.

> Keep Reading

News Release | U.S. PIRG Education Fund | Consumer Protection

Coronavirus worry triggers most surgical mask, sanitizer prices to spike at least 50% on Amazon

As the Coronvirus outbreak became more widespread, the price of most of the sanitizers and masks rose at least 50 percent higher than the 90-day average. Even one in six products sold directly by Amazon saw prices rise at least 50 percent higher in February

> Keep Reading

News Release | U.S. PIRG | Consumer Protection

Hack doesn’t absolve Equifax of being careless with consumers’ data

Congress must hold companies accountable for failing to protect condumers' confidential information.

> Keep Reading

News Release | U.S. PIRG | Consumer Protection

Critical Product Safety Legislation Introduced in House by Representative Rush

U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush releases legislation to increase transparency around important product injury and death data.

> Keep Reading

Pages

News Release | U.S. PIRG | Consumer Protection

U.S. PIRG response to reports of Facebook security breach

Facebook announced today that earlier this week, "attackers exploited a vulnerability in Facebook’s code that impacted “View As”, a feature that lets people see what their own profile looks like to someone else. This allowed them to steal Facebook access tokens which they could then use to take over people’s accounts."

> Keep Reading

News Release | CoPIRG | Consumer Protection

Legislators, Consumer Advocates Encourage Coloradans to Freeze Their Credit Reports

On the day that a new federal law eliminates consumer fees to freeze and thaw credit reports, a group of Colorado legislators and consumer advocates gathered at the Capitol to encourage Coloradans to take advantage of free credit freezes and protect themselves against identity thieves. According to CoPIRG, credit freezes are one of the best ways to stop an identity thief from using your information to set up a new credit card or cell phone account in your name, run up big bills, and leave you to pick up the pieces.

> Keep Reading

News Release | CoPIRG | Consumer Protection

Initiative to Rein in Predatory Payday Loans Makes November Ballot

Today, the Colorado Secretary of State’s office confirmed that the Coloradans to Stop Predatory Payday Loans campaign, which CoPIRG is on the steering committee of, submitted enough signatures and Proposition 111 will be on the ballot this November. Proposition 111 will decrease the interest and fees that Coloradan’s pay for payday loans from an APR of 214 percent down to 36 percent, bringing payday loans under the same 36 percent usury cap that every other financial product follows in Colorado.

> Keep Reading

News Release | U.S. PIRG | Public Health, Consumer Protection

Is E. Coli contaminated Cargill/Excel beef in your fridge?

Last Thursday, Cargill Meat Solutions recalled more than 25,000 pounds of ground beef products shipped to Colorado and California because of possible contamination with potentially deadly E. coli. Cargill is likely unfamiliar to shoppers as the beef it produces is labeled using other brands, in this case “Excel fresh meat”.

> Keep Reading

News Release | U.S. PIRG | Public Health, Consumer Protection, Health Care

Second recall of King Bio’s homeopathic drugs in the past month

King Bio Inc. issued the second significant voluntary recall since late July of their homeopathic drugs on Wednesday. Safety concerns over homeopathic drugs extend beyond King Bio as over the past several years, the FDA has issued recalls to several companies for a variety of health products from zinc-containing intranasal medicine to asthma drugs with toxic ingredients.

> Keep Reading

Pages

Blog Post | Consumer Protection, Make VW Pay

Cross-country VW tour departure on the local news | Mike Litt

Yesterday, Danny Katz, director of CoPIRG, helped Marcus and Elisabeth kick off a cross-country road trip to Volkswagen headquarters in Virginia to make VW pay for misleading consumers and polluting our air.

> Keep Reading

Blog Post | Consumer Protection, Make VW Pay

House Tees Up VW Bailout and Other Attacks on Public Protections, Consumer Rights | Ed Mierzwinski

(Updated 8 January to add vote results): You've probably heard that the House is soon planning to again repeal the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare). That bill will certainly be vetoed. But the House has other anti-consumer, anti-environmental bills scheduled for floor action this week and next. The bills take aim at agency health, financial and safety regulations and also consumer rights to band together as a class to take their grievances against corporate wrongdoers to court. That last bill would immunize Volkswagen from having to compensate VW Diesel owners for being deceptively sold cars designed to "defeat" air pollution requirements.

> Keep Reading

Blog Post | Consumer Protection

30 Years of "Trouble in Toyland," 30 Years of Safety Improvements | Anna Low-Beer

Every year, U.S. PIRG Education Fund releases Trouble in Toyland, a report on toy safety which examines toys bought at major national retailers, looking for safety hazards including toxic toys, choking hazards, labeling violations, powerful magnets, and excessibely loud toys. We continue to find these hazards on store shelves, which indicates the need for continued vigilance and adequate enforcement of safety regulations. But despite lingering dangers, in the last 30 years, we've come a long way in terms of both policy and compliance with standards.

> Keep Reading

Blog Post | Consumer Protection

As CFPB Advances Consumer Protection, Attacks on CFPB Escalate | Ed Mierzwinski

This week, the CFPB took a major step toward establishing a regulation restricting the use of forced arbitration clauses in consumer financial contracts, which give companies what the CFPB's director said was a "free pass from being held accountable by their customers." Meanwhile, on Capitol Hill, powerful bank interests escalated their campaign to defund and defang the bureau, because it works for consumers, not them.

> Keep Reading

Blog Post | Consumer Protection

Positive Steps on Arbitration Clauses | Danny Katz

Today, I had the honor of speaking with members of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) who were in town to announce positive steps to protect consumers when in comes to forced arbitration clauses. Forced arbitration clauses eliminate Americans’ access to the courts, forcing them instead into a private system set up by corporations to favor corporations.

> Keep Reading

Pages

News Release | U.S. PIRG Education Fund

Americans report more than 6,000 product safety-related injuries and illnesses in 2021 recalls

News Release | U.S. PIRG

Statement: Overdraft actions by CFPB and Capital One should be followed by more

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has released research showing that the financial sector overrelies on overdraft fees and non-sufficient funds (NSF) revenue, which reached an estimated $15.47 billion in 2019. Ironically, one of America’s 15 largest banks, Capital One, announced earlier in December that it will eliminate all overdraft and NSF fees.

Report | CoPIRG Foundation and U.S. PIRG Education Fund

Not First Class: Flyer complaints soar as airlines cancel flights, deny refunds, ruin plans

We looked at the data around more than 200,000 complaints against the airline industry and the data around flight departures and arrivals starting in January 2016. This analysis should help consumers to take as much as possible into account when deciding where to fly and through which airline.

News Release | CoPIRG Foundation and U.S. PIRG Education Fund

Report: Airlines’ refund policies, scheduling problems irk flyers

When the COVID-19 pandemic turned life upside down in early 2020 and commercial flights came to a near-halt, the U.S. government gave the airline industry $50 billion to save jobs and keep the industry afloat. Since then, despite surviving because of their customers’ tax dollars, the airlines repeatedly have canceled and delayed flights, denied refunds and failed at customer service, according to complaints filed with the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT). Not First Class: Flyer complaints soar as airlines cancel flights, deny refunds, ruin plans, a new report released Thursday by CoPIRG Foundation analyzes more than 200,000 DOT complaints going back to 2016.

News Release | U.S. PIRG

Statement: Bipartisan introduction of Veterans and Consumers Fair Credit Act marks important step in stopping the debt trap

The Veterans and Consumers Fair Credit Act (VCFCA) was reintroduced in the House Committee on Financial Services on Monday. This bill would limit interest rates on loans and go a long way toward protecting consumers, including veterans, who are often victimized by predatory lenders.

Consumer Protection

Not First Class

Our report highlights how flier complaints have soared as airlines cancel flights, deny refunds, and ruin plans. Find out which airlines have the most complaints and what you can do.

Consumer Protection

Report: Colorado consumers faced major challenges with credit bureaus, debt collectors in 2020

If you were treated unfairly by a financial company such as a credit bureau in 2020, you're not alone. "Consumers in Peril," a CoPIRG Foundation report on the top marketplace threats that Americans faced in 2020, found that problems with banks, credit bureaus and debt collectors were among the top consumer complaints.

Consumer Protection

Auto Loan Complaints Rise

A review of complaints to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) Consumer Complaint Database reveals a sharp spike in consumer complaints about auto purchasing, leasing and finance since the beginning of the pandemic.

Consumer Protection

Gov. Polis signs anti-price gouging bill into law

Gov. Jared Polis has signed into law a CoPIRG-backed bill that makes it illegal to sell food, fuel, medical supplies or other necessities for excessively high prices during a declared emergency. In Colorado and across the country, some sellers have been using the pandemic to take advantage of consumers by dramatically raising prices for essential goods.

View All RSS Feed