Carry the Concerned Consumer

Dear KK, Recently I had a nasty run in with a company. I ordered a product and when it was delivered it was the wrong color and poor quality (nothing like it was advertised). I sent it back twice and the people working there seemed to care less about my complaints. I am really frustrated especially since the company is well known and with the economy being the way it is...EVERY PENNY COUNTS... do you have any advice on what I can do to demand quality?
		-- Carry the Concerned Consumer Dear Carry, That can be really frustrating! Trust me I have spent hours on the phone trying to “right” the wrong doings of a botched delivery, bad cable installation, or faulty furniture. There are several things you can do to have your voice heard. First go to their website (if they have one) and make a consumer ratings comment. Trust me, companies like, Amazon, EBags, HSN, QVC etc. take that very seriously. And enough ratings will force the company to either remove the product or make some changes based on consumer demand.
If you feel that isn’t enough and that maybe there is a bigger issue at hand like “false advertising” you can contact the Federal Trade Commission and file a consumer complaint. https://www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov/ If it is a smaller company in your hometown definitely check out the Better Business Bureau.
			There is a website for each US city and you can post complaints there as well. Plus, you may find out you are not alone. The most important thing to do is try to prevent this from happening again. Educate yourself. In a tough economy we have to do our research before buying. Read those consumer reviews.
Google the product and see what other people have said. There are lots of great websites that rate products for you like www.consumerreports.org. There is a wealth of information out there thanks to the internet so do your research so you can have peace of mind that this will never happen again... and if it does YOU WILL BE READY TO FIGHT BACK! KK