North Dakota Attorney General's Top Ten Consumer Complaints

News Release - Office of Attorney General
Contact: Liz Brocker (701) 328-2210
_______________________________________________

January 20, 2010

STENEHJEM RELEASES 2009 TOP TEN CONSUMER COMPLAINTS

BISMARCK – Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem released his office’s list of Top Ten consumer complaints for 2009, showing that last year, the Consumer Protection Division of his office processed 1,028 complaints and took legal action against 63 entities for violating North Dakota’s consumer fraud laws. The division recovered over $1.1 million for the state and returned an additional $587,600 to consumers.

The “Top Ten” consumer complaints were:

1. Transient Merchants - 175
2. Internet Consignment Stores - 138
3. Telemarketing - 115
4. Mail Order - 91
5. Magazines - 84
6 (Tied) Automobile warranty/repair - 56
Cellular termination/premium fees - 56
8. Home Improvement - 55
9. Debt Adjustment/Credit Counseling - 34
10. Satellite provider billing issues - 25

Transient merchant complaints were made against 22 companies, knocking telemarketing complaints out of first place for 2009. The majority of the complaints were against three companies, APX Alarm Security Solutions Inc (78 complaints), Security One International Inc (51) (both selling security systems) and Utility Management Associates, Inc. (27), for operating without a transient merchant license and/or failing to comply with the state’s cancellation laws. These companies agreed to pay $205,600 to the state.

“Out of state companies are required to obtain a transient merchant license and bond before doing business in this state. This helps to protect North Dakota consumers from unscrupulous operators,” said Stenehjem.

Out of state companies typically conduct business door-to-door or solicit sales by offering free meals in exchange for attending a sales presentation. The sales representatives often use high-pressure, often dubious, sales tactics to get consumers to buy an overpriced product or service they are hawking. Once the sale is completed, the representatives move on to the next city or state. The consumer is not given information about the right to cancel the sale as required under state law.

Stenehjem cautioned residents that before agreeing to purchase anything from a company using door-to-door or other high-pressure sales tactics, they should ask to see the salesperson’s Transient Merchant license. Every sales person of the company is required to carry one, and may be required to have a license from the city. If the salesperson cannot produce the required license, Stenehjem recommends notifying local law enforcement.

The division also received 264 complaints from consumers reporting violations of the “Do Not Call” law. Of the complaints, 143 were for calls made to residents registered on the do not call list, 119 related to the use of prerecorded messages, and two were for use of text messages. Stenehjem initiated 26 investigations and took action against the companies responsible for the violations, obtaining fines, settlements and judgments totaling over $33,000.

# # #
http://www.ag.nd.gov/documents/01-20-10.pdf.