"State protects consumers if products fail" by Mitch Lipka, Globe Correspondent January 18, 2015
Do they?
Some of the consumer protections that we have in Massachusetts are not exactly simple to take advantage of. And several readers have shared their frustration with trying to exercise them.
I can't fathom why such a thing would be in the greatest economic system ever devised by man.
The main issue has come with a protection that we’ve discussed many times before: Implied warranty, AKA the “implied warranty of merchantability.” What that means is, as a consumer you have a right to expect that a product is going to do what it is supposed to do for a “reasonable time.”
Actually, I go in thinking "Buyer Beware."
That protection exists beyond whatever limited warranty is provided with the product itself. “If the product is defective at purchase, or becomes defective during the period of the implied warranty, both the seller and the manufacturer are responsible for making it right,” is the interpretation offered by the attorney general’s office.
Pi$$es me off and they never get my bu$ine$$ again, ever. I'll $uffer fir$t.
But not every business is familiar with such consumer protections, and not every business cares.
That is so beyond anything I have been taught and told.
What do you mean business doesn't care in AmeriKa? That is unfathomable to me! I was told for years and years and years by the bosses that the customer is always right (unless I am the customer, of course).
This simple answer is this, like everything else in the paper, is wrong.
I mean, what el$e could bu$ine$$ care about other than customer?
One of the problems is that it is typically falls to the consumer to get the business to do the right thing.
WHAT?
Thought the state was looking out for me like the headline, and why is the AmeriKan bu$ine$$ so goddamn $hady in its dealings?
WTF?
So if you buy a washing machine that never works right even though the repairman has been to your house five times, you could exercise your rights. And you should be due your choice of repair, replacement, or refund. The store’s refund policy does not apply in such a situation, including the charging of a “restocking fee” or other such penalties on the consumer.
If the business doesn’t cooperate, then what?
Barbara Anthony, who headed up the state’s consumer affairs office for five years before recently stepping down, said the best bet is to write a demand letter, also known as a “93A” for the chapter of the state statutes it comes from. Consumer Affairs has model letters on its website and folks on staff who can explain how to write one.
An e-mail won't do it, and I don't really like to gamble -- especially with the law(???).
So the state may be able to help me, maybe not, can help me write a letter(? in this day and age ?), but.... taking your chances(?).
The letter essentially gives you the right to file a lawsuit, but often the wording in it — that a business could be forced to pay double or triple the costs — can make a difference, Anthony said.
With all due respect, that looks like maneuvers in deception; must be why all the lawyers are needed.
“When conversation doesn’t bring about the desired result, these consumer-penned 93A demand letters do tend to bring about more favorable results,” she said.
So, don’t give up just because a business isn’t making it easy to exercise your rights.
Why would bu$ine$$ not be making things easy? I was taught and told my whole life we are all in a $ymbiotic relation$hip that benefits all. WTF?
It’s well worth writing a demand letter to try to get what you’re due. And, if enough’s at stake and they still don’t budge, consider filing a lawsuit.
Who will pick up the legal fees and lawyer bills for me?
--more--"
If you will excuse me, I can't file a lawsuit because I need to go replace some piece of crap product that just broke.
Not mad or anything. It's expected. Whose going to do anything? The state?
