So, I’m looking for some information about consumer standards organizations and the responsibilities of corporations in the US, under US law. Here’s a story…
I’ve been receiving “VEHICLE WARRANTY EXPIRATION” mailings from a company, claiming it’s in relation to a car that I may have purchased recently. The notice is from the “National Vehicle Headquarters” and comes on an official looking green piece of paper. Of course it’s a scam. This is obvious without even looking at it, however, the question is what to do next about it.
So I called them. And left a message. Then they called me, and we spoke at some length, and also to their management. Right before I had them take me off their list, I was able to ascertain that they got my information from Transunion (a US credit reference company, for those who don’t know – those outside of the US perhaps), and I asked them about the morality of sending out such notices. I asked them how they feel the poor, undereducated, and also certain senior citizens, might respond to such officialesque mailings, and whether they thought their actions were those of a responsible company.
I also asked them who regulates their industry. This is where we both drew a blank. In Europe, these actions would almost certainly be illegal, and in the UK, the company would be investigated by the Office of Fair Trading for false advertising. I’m quite sure that they’re running afoul of certain interstate commerce legislation, although I’m not sure of what yet, and would love to know who I should write to, if indeed there is anyone who can annoy these people on my behalf. I could just ignore them, but it’s the holiday season, and ’tis the time to spread the cheer by helping to do something about such monsterous sharks.
Jon.