The Usual Suspects
People in the auto business are used to taking a pounding from consumers in annual polls about rip-off complaints. About the only thing that changes is the order of the bad guys--auto sales or auto repairs.
Latest statistics released by the National Assn. of Consumer Agency Administrators (NACAA) show that not much has changed for the last survey period.
Most consumer complaints: auto sales. Second most complaints: auto repairs, which had been first in its previous poll. Even auto leasing made the Top 10 this time, tied for seventh with landlord-tenant complaints.
Kevin Allen, executive director of the Orange County Auto Dealers Assn., has a ready answer about such surveys: “We’ve got some statistics of our own which points out the other side.”
He’s referring to a recent Gallup Poll, paid for by the national auto sales industry, that shows a large majority of Americans who bought new cars--76%--were satisfied customers. Yet only 8% of the journalists interviewed for the same poll thought customers would be satisfied.
In a letter to the media, the national auto group wrote: “For years, [we have] felt unfairly maligned by media reports depicting stereotypes of fast-talking salesmen in plaid jackets. Now there is concrete evidence that media coverage of new car/truck dealers is based on outdated perceptions.”
Yet the Gallup survey shows that nearly one customer in four wasn’t satisfied, and 16% actually thought they’d been ripped off. Those would be high numbers in any other business.
The NACAA, a support group for consumer agency directors, asked its members for examples of rip-offs in their area. One in particular that consumers need to beware comes from the Washington state attorney general: A dealer quotes a monthly payment that is actually higher than the price of the car. The extra money then goes to services such as credit insurance that is supposed to be optional.
In Santa Cruz, 12 separate consumers filed complaints against a dealer for advertising cars he knew already had been sold or selling cars for more than the advertised price.
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California’s own state Department of Consumer Affairs echoes the NACAA report on auto repairs; 26,000 complaints about auto repairs headed its own top 10 list for 1999.
“We’ve sent undercover investigators in to check some complaints and found repair shops charging for parts they never even installed,” agency spokeswoman Nancy Hardaker said.
The main problem we consumers have, Hardaker said, is that too many of us, both men and women, simply do not know enough about what’s under the hood of our vehicles. Car sales people and repair workers know that, and some try to take advantage. Said Hardaker:
“Unfortunately, we still live in the age where a woman goes in for a minor car repair and gets a response like “Ma’am, ah wouldn’t drahve that thar thing like that, if ah were you.’ ”
Here is a major problem reported on car leases: You walk into a dealership ready to buy a car, but through careful wording in the sales pitch, the salesperson gets you to actually just lease the car without your even knowing it. That means higher prices and no trade-in value.
Ranking third in the NACAA consumer complaint survey was home improvement pitches. Beware of scare tactics, the NACAA warns. One common con job: selling expensive and unnecessary heating systems to Southern Californians.
Fourth in the NACAA survey was household goods. The rest not already mentioned, in order: credit/lending, mail orders, utilities and travel/tourism.
If the utilities category surprises you, it’s not problems with your utility bills. It’s complaints about people who falsely say they work for a utility company and want access to your backyard. Then they keep you busy back there looking at a perfectly fine utility pole while their partners are in your house robbing you.
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The state Department of Consumer Affairs listed several in its top 10 that didn’t make the national list. One category was security guards.
“We get hundreds of complaints about security guards using excessive authority in dealing with people,” Hardaker said.
Another major California complaint was against pest control companies. Some believe they’ve been conned into buying a major treatment when they only had a minor problem.
Not every complaint, however, means that a company is at fault. For example, Hardaker said, one family complained that fumes from a pest control’s spray had killed their cat while it slept under the house. Problem was it was the neighbor’s house, and the cat wasn’t supposed to be there. The people hiring the pest control company didn’t own an animal.
One serious warning by the NACAA: Be careful with paying a huge, upfront fee for a 10-year pest control protection plan. Too often these smaller companies go out of business before the 10 years are up, and you get nothing for your money.
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Another category you might find surprising: registered nurses--about 1,200 complaints a year. Susan Brank, an administrator for the state Board of Registered Nursing, points out that even though the numbers are low (with 265,000 registered nurses statewide), “We take these complaints very seriously.”
Most have to do with nurses working while on drugs or alcohol. Should you have a problem with a nurse, the state board has a line just for complaints: (916) 322-3350, Ext. 5.
The NACAA warns that the next reporting survey will probably show some changes. One growing problem likely to make the top 10: cramming. That’s the term given to mysterious charges that appear on your telephone bill. Often the description of the charge is so vague you can’t tell who has actually placed it there. Cramming problems should be reported immediately.
Each year the public seems to become more aggressive in filing complaints. The NACAA reports that its members show an 8% increase in complaints filed over the previous annual reporting period.
“If we can’t handle your complaint,” said the state consumer agency’s Hardaker, “we can almost always refer you to someone who can.”
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Common Consumer Complaints
* 1. Auto sales: One scam is adding a phony “dealer’s fee” on top of the vehicle’s advertised price. Another: quoting monthly payments that were actually higher than what was needed to purchase the vehicle.
* 2. Auto repair: You should comparison shop to guard against a repair place hitting you with unnecessary charges.
* 3. Home improvement: Beware carpet cleaners who begin cleaning immediately without giving you time to evaluate the purchase decision. Beware any home improvement company where a caller says “We happen to have someone in your area.”
* 4. Household goods: Watch out for companies operating elaborate (and mostly bogus) vacation offers to sell you household equipment. Ventura County prosecutors won a judgement against a company using such pressure tactics to sell $2,400 vacuum cleaners.
* 5. Credit/Lending: Read the fine print on credit or lending agreements. Too often there are hidden charges.
* 6. Mail Order: You’ve just won a sweepstakes? If you are required to send in any amount of money to find out what you’ve won, it’s a rip-off.
* 7/8 Auto Leasing: Many complaints come from older customers. They want to purchase a vehicle but unknowingly sign a lease agreement, with inflated prices and significant,y reduced values on their trade-ins.
* 7/8 Landlord/tenant: Beware landlords who say the apartment you are moving into just got a new roof. Make them show a receipt.
* 9. Utilities: A utility worker wants in your backyard to work on a pole? Make the person prove that’s who they are. A common rip-off: One scammer poses as the utility worker and sends you to the backyard with him to talk. Then other scammers steal your household goods or money.
* 10. Travel/tourism: A common rip-off: Signing consumers up for a special travel package, then after payment, add on additional costs.
Consumer Agencies
Here are places where you can file consumer complaints:
* The Orange County District Attorney’s Consumer Protection Unit. 405 W. 5th St. Suite 606, Santa Ana, 92701. Telephone 714-568-1200.
* Office of the Attorney General, Public Inquiry Unit, P.O. Box 944255, Sacramento, Ca. 94244-2550. Or by Internet caag.state.ca.us/pui/comp.htm
* The California Department of Consumer Affairs, 400 R. St., Sacramento, Ca. 958714. Toll free telephone number 800-952-5210. Or by Internet www.dca.ca.gov
* National Assn. of Consumer Agency Administrators, 1010 Vermont Ave. N.W. Suite 514, Washington, D.C. 20005. Or by Internet www.nacaanet.org
* Better Business Bureau, Telephone 714-985-8922.
