Buyer beware; 13 Of 26; Marketplace of the Seventies

Buyer beware. The past and present by word of the bewildered consumer shoppers in the modern marketplace look for the Best Buy the safest product and find a perplexing jumble of good news. The consumers choice is the story behind this program series buyer beware. Virginia dollar special assistant to the president for Consumer Affairs has hopes that this phrase long a part of the shoppers vocabulary will no longer be needed. She wants to replace him Torre or buyer beware with just him Tory or justice for the buyer. Traditionally the consumer has been the weaker party in the marketplace. But Mrs. knoware suggests some new weapons which may change the picture in the decade of the 70s. At the moment many consumer advocates joined her in support of class action a concept which gives buyers legal

ammunition. The proposed congressional bill would permit one or more buyers victimized by a widespread pattern of violation of state or federal consumer protection laws to bring a lawsuit in federal court on behalf of himself and all others involved. If a person suffered a loss of only $50 and might incur court costs of hundreds of dollars to obtain damages he would probably not go to court. But if hundreds of people were also defrauded they might share court costs and recover most of their loss. This is not our elaborates on the advantages of this proposal as written according to presidential recommendations. Well the president was the first to recommend the first president to recommend that a broad new consumer remedy be offered to consumers as he deals in various forms or before Congress. Now this would allow a individual or a group of consumers having been victimized by the same

product or deceptive practice connected with a product and to sue in federal court. The administration feels to avoid be overloading the federal courts with all sorts of minor complaints or the so-called blackmailer strike suits that there be a screening device and written into the bill and this is what we very strongly feel is necessary that the Department of Justice would seek an injunction first. And to proceed against the people and in which case then once the government has appointed UK then all the consumers would have to do is prove that they Poppy X-Y free article and that they were damaged by the use of their tour and suffered a loss and we think that the weight should be taken into

consideration. Other versions of class action have also been considered and may be proposed on the state and federal levels. But the primary concern of class action concept is protection of the consumer's rights. Other weapons may also be added to the shopping bag of tomorrow. F3 Dickerson professor of law at Indiana University speaks of some specific proposals in this arena. Another Thank you very fruitful approach to reducing this disparity of sophistication between me and also an economic power between buyer and seller is to. Beef up the. Consumer's own legal position. We've been familiar for some years with the products liability suit where buy and consumer that has been ensured has been able to get compensation against manufacturers. And we've learned that if this is properly focused the accumulative effect

of the SOS is to put considerable pressure on the. Manufacturer to conform this is a. Really. An excellent approach to some problems largely because it has a built in enforcement provision because it doesn't depend on some government official deciding that it's a good idea to move against a particular practice here. Consumers just seeking their own. Compensation for their own hurts and indirectly putting tremendous pressure financial pressure on manufacturers and other sellers to shape up. Now there are additional ways in which the consumer by pursuing his private legal rights in the courts can be made to be more effective than they are today. Protesting in and reacting to

improper manufacture and selling practices. One of the devices we might consider is a statutory right of injunction against offending sellers particularly manufacturers who have been putting out products of improper design. Some statutes of experimented with. A right tomorrow look for punitive damages and. Compensation and suits. Some statutes enlarge the consumer's right to rescind transactions which have been considered oppressive and of course we've been hearing a lot recently about this quite a controversial to devise the class suit in which a brawl was struck in the courts on behalf not of one consumer. The whole group of consumers all of whom have been injured in much the same way. In addition Mr. Dickerson suggested change in this summer's ammunition.

Now another approach. Is not to beef up the buyers consumers. Rights legal rights but to cut down on some of the sellers rights which she has often been beating the consumer over the head and the notion here is that instead of trying to strengthen David we're going to cut down to size. Right so here are some of the things that the legislators have been. Thinking about are passing laws about. One thing is to restrict unconscionable contracts and either eliminating or curtailing such sour weapons as disclaimers and default judgments confessions of judgment waiver of defenses and garnishment of the buyers wages. They probably the classic approach to protecting the consumer has been to try to improve the product itself and how it's merchandise and this is usually

been handled by prohibiting inadequate products. And then in the packet law preventing or I'm sorry threatening violators with fine or imprisonment. Now neither of these sanctions as been notably successful Gerry simply refused to put apparently genteel business men in jail. Courts of course don't want to impose unduly high fines free or fair putting companies out of business and the other hand if they impose fines that are too low or the companies affected simply write the fines off as a cost of doing business. So this is been although the traditional thing it's been a rather disappointing sanctioned set of sanctions. In actual practice some other governmental sanction such as seizure of defective goods or adverse publicity such as it was used against the cranberry and cyclamates industries. Some of these sanctions are often more effective. But this brings us back

to the general. Point I made earlier that no one of the is certainly going to do track and the problem was to get. Get the right combination possibly to make the law available and then let's see which ones work out the best. Others also see inequities between the strength of the buyer and seller. Leslie to the director in the bureau of deceptive practices at the Federal Trade Commission considers this problem at the curbstone level or the pacing to neighborhood level I think that again speaking far a staff position as a thank you so much commission I don't know that they have expressed a view on this as yet but it's being commonly talked about among consumer protection lawyers and the like. Possibly we need to do more in the field of compulsory arbitration.

There is a lot of work being done in this area and to bring in a panel of qualified experts to sit and judge whether or not a consumer received a shoddy product or did not and what settlement should be made seems to hold out great promise. The American Arbitration Association is doing a lot of work in this area. Certainly when you talk in terms of an oligopoly estate industry the motor car industry for example a person and champagne that buys a new car and has a bad experience with it is is just not on an equal basis to contend with that giant and China's getting adjustment. So there are those who would argue and I think I share this view very definitely that there should be a local arbitration group that he could go before with his bad car and get an adjustment he would get a new one or get it fixed and without. If he bought a new vehicle protectively he should be made whole again as

possible through this arbitration process. This is another solution a solution that's being thought of for that and so it's certainly action at the ground level is more effective than battles on the legislative floor. Laws may protect the consumer but they often create greater problems than they solve. And getting bills passed is a complicated procedure. And divine director of Consumer Federation of America reflects on this arduous process. The hardest route for a consumer to take is the route of legislation. It's a very very long route anywhere in the. If you're not quite sure when you start with you'll ever succeed. If we could be sure that the consumer outcry was heard by industry by the manufacturers processors by those who furnish information from the universities or wherever it may be from if their voices are heard

and there is a response to them then there is no necessity for the legislative route I think legislative route is always the last resort not the first resort. Many issues hold the attention of consumer advocates. Some are already under consideration by legislators and other public officials. Others are yet only a gleam in the eyes of consumers dissatisfied with the marketplace of the 60s. Many inequities persist and a laundry list of them is bound to be incomplete. Mrs. Virginia now or considers the picture at the moment and improvements so far and then looks beyond I don't know. In his consumer message last October it took confidence of the fact that the consumer is not being protected as well as he should. He recommended some very important things that my office made a statutory office

with greater visibility and bigger budget the budget is right on its way and Congress is still the deciding on the form of the statutory office. But he also said that the FTC should have broader powers. He's been hamstrung in the past that I did and it is a procedure that they have which allows a fraudulent situation to continue a deceptive practice to continue while it's being reviewed in the courts and the president recommended that the FTC the Federal Trade Commission be given the right to seek an injunction that would put a permanent R.I. and immediate halt to what now I think an actor Court decision of course a court hearing a prominent withdrawal of a product from the market. Now the president also recommended that we look into the area of pre testing a medical device. And the whole area of product safety that

my office has is continuing response. The lady in surveillance our product safety. Our moving in to this area now but in the pre-K thing of medical devices I understand the Food Drug Administration is working on legislation that would devise and then said because not only the contact then that we use. And as well as the pace makers and other medical devices have no present system of pre-clearance and to many of these are being used all over the country today and there is in office. It feels very strong and the president personally feels very strongly that we should have a pre testing. Right. I think that this is the beginning of a long list but an important issue is raised here. The methods used by the federal government to solve present day consumer problems in past programs in this series

we have included advice from many federal agencies the FDA the FTC the USDA the F-4s. It sounds like alphabet soup. Each problem is the concern of a different bureau and it's hard to know where to turn for help. The widely discussed idea of a central office for consumer affairs might be an effective clearinghouse for a much duplicated effort. But proposals and reactions to those ideas vary. Miss is now or looks with interest at such an idea. Support for a separate department is also expressed by our divine Consumer Federation of America. We've already talked about regulatory agencies that we have before Congress a bill for consumer affairs one for us one for statutory independent Office of Consumer Affairs and consumer

consumer members and Budget Committees. The president's made to have an assistant attorney general for consumer justice with General staffing in the Justice Department. She does admit that some agencies are now providing adequate help for consumers but not all are. In some places it's very very helpful in others it doesn't help at all. It depends a great deal on who is leading the agency or the department that's working with consumers. If you have a good conscientious public minded individual who must because he holds this kind of a job pressures of all kinds and most of the pressures he will

have to face are those of the industry and the. The large organizations that he regulates let's say or that that he sets up standards for in some way these pressures are intense and constant the consumer pressure is never constant and the consumer pressure often isn't even intense enough to protect himself. Therefore I still go back to the fact it depends on how strong the leadership is in departments or agencies. Sometimes a consumer is very well protected and sometimes he isn't protected at all. Another critic of this patchwork quilt of services to consumers has questions about a Department of Consumer Affairs. F3 Dickerson of Indiana University ponders the alternatives. Rather we need a Department of the consumer I'm not prepared to say but it does seem a little odd

fortunate that I've never count of the number of agencies but it's unfortunate that consumer protection as we know it and this is true both in the states and federal government is spread over many many agencies. They could be feste agencies. Washington that somehow are working on behalf of the consumer. There are a laptop there overlaps there there are gaps and I'm sure a great deal of lack of information coordination which means that it's unduly expensive and not sufficiently effective. It may also be a mistake to go wholly in the opposite direction to try to have a Department of Consumer. At the moment the Federal Trade Commission serves as a clearinghouse for many consumer problems but its weapons for attack on fraud are often too weak. Joseph do Frayne of deceptive practices in the FTC agrees that this agency of the government is hamstrung you know we're very much in favor of

reform time ahead. More cease and desist or power being expanded by having the power to obtain a preliminary injunction to fragrantly our experience has been that there's a crest of interest in whatever the proper practice of the product is by the letter going to processes have been observed. A little late to do much about it we have preliminary injunctive power and it could present a consumer protection message for this year. Agrees with that but recommends that we be given this power and we certainly feel none of these people. Thanks that lawsuits are very expensive and disposed to try to bring about improvement without going about lawsuits a lawsuit is a very demanding time

consuming expensive from everybody's point of view. Proposition in order to achieve corrective action and I think in our in a country where the greater trend is away from litigation and just Trade Commission lawsuits and urban Eleanor I have more frequently settled out of court than Ian. So I think we need to do more in this voluntary caracal. Very clear understanding that deserving sellers are going to be sued approach. We've been able to do in the past and I hope we can do more. And yet many do not see powers assigned to a separate department for consumers as a solution to this problem. Leslie Dix of the FTC considers such a proposal a Federal Trade Commission to date and this administration and

the past administration. All three have. And these have expressed the view that a separate Department of Consumer Affairs is not advisable perhaps at this time. Now what we should do is to try to beef up existing as a mentality is to do a better job for the consumer. Now there are those on the Hill. Are strong advocates of this kind of step being taken pulling together all of the elements of 33 different agencies that do have a piece of the consumer protection function into a separate department. I think this is a little way down the road it might one day happen but. I I don't not see it right away. Criticism of the FTC at the moment does run strong especially in the mind of Ralph Nader. So the Federal Trade Commission doesn't have sufficient power OFF-MIKE there are many agencies in government such as the Securities Exchange Commission that has a far greater unless a foetid very commission can obtain that part of Levy

criminal penalties and fined civilly fine corporations and corporate officials. And it too is to to pursue these for preliminary injunction. It's not going to be able to fulfill its statutory mission of protecting the consumer in these manifold areas around the country. There's also an additional bill now up before Congress to broaden the jurisdiction of the circulation to include consumer abuses that affect commerce. And this also is needed because the courts allowed other agencies such as the department I recall to move in on areas that simply affect interstate commerce rather than are going directly interstate commerce informing. The mechanics of consumer protection are of vital interest to all consumer organizations but issues that strike specific. In this

series of programs we have noted a need for compulsory. Testing of medical devices. Safer cars. More stringent packaging regulations. A survey of utility rates for children's toys. The list changes each day but never seems to grow smaller. Tomorrow the list may be put on an even broader scale. Virginia now or looks to the 70s and beyond the major consumer issues of course present a strong area as you know. Second they very likely matter of an area all over the country a very daring thing brown and black. The president has just appointed a. Have a kid maybe I think about going to every year this whole matter and by that middle of

September we hope come up with a recommendation for executive action or a complex Walker stand back of Consumers Union also sees the future of the consumer movement in a different light. Ralph Nader recently said he saw the joining together of several movements to become a very strong political force. One is a consumer movement which we are all active in the part the second is the whole conservation. The third is another one of the items on the agenda of this afternoon. Environmental pollution and the fourth is the campaign of the poor people in this country. I'm not at all sure that we're going to be able to get that last one into an active role in the consumer movement. That's going to be much more difficult than the other two. I do feel that the conservation and pollution issue are consumer issues that we ought to

embrace with. All possible fervor and really try to put our forces together to work together. I think one of the big problems we have in this consumer movement is finding the issues on which a lot of. Very able people would put their shoulders to the wheel and get out on the streets when necessary. And the two issues that have appeared this seem to make this kind of effort possible are conservation and pollution. These are the issues that really seem to be striking home to people and they're concerned about the bread and bread and butter issues of the consumer but not nearly so concerned about them as they are about what's happening to our natural resources and what's happening to our environment in which we live. And so that if we can find a way to meld together these three particular léon that we can bring in the fourth. Problems of the

borrow at all the better. These two issues are the ones that are really catching their fancy in. Particular the young. The challenge remains with each shopper However constant pressure and attention in the marketplace ensures the Best Buy's of all of Consumer Federation of America urges all consumers to exercise their rights and responsibilities. If consumers if you if you're going to zation is willing to study to write letters call legislators so publicly then I think consumer bills will become law. But if you do that they're not going to move and this struggle isn't going to end even if we get them as lawyers because the struggle then begins for adequate or whoever is to write the regulations for this and then it becomes for the struggle for the

adequate funds for the enforcement of that law. And third you have the final struggle to be sure that whatever agency is going to enforce that law really does the job that they don't walk away and leave it. There's a long distance between celebrating the fact that the president signed the bill and seeing that that law is really operating in the consuming interest. I think we'll get there. I think that you will get there but we'll get there when consumers all within a five themselves as consumers and fight on the consumer level will get there when we all are willing to work together. We'll get there only when we're willing to put both our time our energy and our money in the consumer organizations and sound off with one consumer voice. Buyer beware by word of the consumer. Shoppers search

for information and protection by the best. This program series has highlighted today and tomorrow's marketplace and the meaning of the phrase buyer beware. This is the national educational radio network.