SOME VALUABLE CONSUMER PROTECTION WEB SITES
(For more information on these web sites see my series of columns dated November 13, 2000)

http://www.consumerreports.com
This is the site of Consumer Reports magazine. Some of its best features (such as its product ratings) require paid subscriptions. But the site is valuable, whether you use the free of subscription service version. You can, of course, get the ratings out of the magazine itself, which is available by mail order subscription or in most libraries.

http://www.bbbonline.com
This is the site of the Better Bureau, with capability of accepting online complaints. BBB has branches all over the country, but they all participate in this site.

http://www.fraud.org
This is the National Consumers League's National Fraud Information Center and Internet Fraud Watch. The National Consumers League is a respected and pioneering consumer organization.

http://www.consumer.gov
This is described as "Your resource for consumer information from the federal government." However for consumer publications as well as consumer information you can also go to the Federal Consumer Information Center at http://www.pueblo.gsa.gov also mentioned below. consumerfederation.org/ Consumer Federation of America is a respected consumer organization which is the largest of its kind. It conducts studies and launches legislative initiatives on a variety of key consumer issues.

http://www.consumersunion.org
Consumers Union, the nonprofit publisher of Consumer Reports magazine, is the consumer advocacy web site of Consumers Union on such matters as food safety and product safety.

http://www.consumerworld.org
This is a highly recommended web site that describes itself as "a public service, non-commercial guide cataloging over 2000 of the most useful consumer resources." It provides a free newsletter to subscribers and is a useful way to find other consumer resources.

http://www.pueblo.gsa.gov 
This takes you to the Federal Consumer Information Center, where you can find information and there extensive selection of government publications, many of which are free. These free publications may require a payment of a small handling charge.

http://www.ftc.gov
The Federal Trade Commission is one of the federal government's most important consumer protection agencies. You can file complaints with them on the site, but they rarely take action on an individual complaint. If they get enough complaints, then they may launch an investigation.

http://www.planetfeedback.com
This web site bills itself as making feedback simple, providing you the capability of communicating with any company. You can send a complaint, a compliment, a question, a suggestion or get other consumer information. The site says it aggregates complaints and comments in its communication with companies.

http://www.cpsc.gov
The web site of the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission which regulates the safety of consumer products (except for autos, guns, and a few other special categories). You can file a complaint on the site, get information about recalls and other related information.

http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov
The web site of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, a unit of the U.S. Department of Transportation, which regulates auto safety. You can file a complaint on the site, get information about recalls and other related information. You can also look at every complaint filed about a car or other piece of automotive equipment. You can also get information about investigations underway which have not yet resulted in a recall.

http://www.consumer.gov
This is one of several web sites for consumer information about the federal government in general. The Federal Consumer Information Center focuses primarily on publications.

http://www.first.gov
Still another web site of the federal government, describing itself as "Your first click to the U.S. Government." It focuses not just on consumer information, but on the entire operation of the federal government.

http://www.consumerdigest.com
The web site of Consumer Digest magazine, a valuable resource, but not in the same league as Consumer Reports, which does not accept advertising likely to influence any magazine (including Consumer Digest) that does.

http://www.state.pa.us
The web site of Pennsylvania. You can find that of another state by substituting its zip code abbreviation (for example, nj for New Jersey) for pa in "state.pa.us."

http://www.liszt.com
This is a web site that keeps track of e-mail discussion groups (that exchange messages about a specific topic by e-mail.) The site also keeps track of chat rooms where specific subjects may be discussed. You can try to find groups or chat rooms focusing on your consumer interest. (NOTE: E-mail discussion groups exchange ideas via e-mail, whereas newsgroups use another technique.)
http://www.dejanews.com
Here you can search for newsgroups that exchange communications on specific subjects. There are thousands of newsgroups sometimes also referred to as Usenet newsgroups. If you go to deja.com rather than dejanews.com you get a related general consumer site, which is also a valuable resource.

http://www.bizrate.com
 BizRate.com surveys millions of consumers and compiles ratings reflecting their shopping experience. It says by using BizRate "you can compare quality and prices on millions of customer-rated stores". Consumer Reports uses BizRate.com to supplement its own e-ratings of web sites.

http://www.gomez.com
This site applies industry-specific ratings to come up with ratings of different web sites. For example, it rates insurance marketplaces (such as QuickenInsurance, InsWeb, and Quotesmith).