Consumer Protection

LOOKING OUT FOR CONSUMERS

WashPIRG’s consumer program works to alert the public to hidden dangers and scams and to ban anti-consumer practices and unsafe products.

TROUBLE IN TOYLAND

For 25 years, WashPIRG’s "Trouble In Toyland" report has surveyed store shelves and identified choking hazards, noise hazards and other dangers. Our report has led to at least 150 recalls and other regulatory actions over the years.

Get our tips for buying safer toys.

BIGGER BANKS, BIGGER FEES

In April, WashPIRG released a report in which we surveyed more than 350 bank branches and revealed that fewer than half of branches obeyed their legal duty to fully disclose fees to prospective customers, while one in four provided no fee information at all. We also found that despite widespread stories about the “death” of free checking, free and low-cost checking choices are still widely available, if consumers shop around.

Find out how to beat high bank fees.

SEE ALL CONSUMER RESOURCES

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Result | Consumer Protection

Keeping Toxic Chemicals Out Of Children’s Toys

Until recently, toy makers did not have to report when formaldehyde or other toxic chemicals were used in toys that could end up in kids’ mouths. Thanks to a new WashPIRG-backed law, they now have to, and we’ll be better able to hold manufacturers accountable for the safety of children’s products.

Report | Consumer Protection

Trouble in Toyland

The 2011 Trouble in Toyland report is our 26th annual survey of toy safety. In this report, we provide safety guidelines for consumers when purchasing toys for young children and provide examples of toys currently on store shelves that may pose potential safety hazards.

News Release | WashPIRG | Consumer Protection

Senators face important vote on whether or not to protect consumers

In July, the landmark Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) took over as the nation’s first federal financial agency with only one job, protecting consumers. But until it gets a Senate-confirmed director, its powers, especially over payday lenders and other non-banks, are limited.

News Release | WashPIRG | Consumer Protection, Financial Reform

WashPIRG Statement of Support for Confirmation of Richard Cordray as Director of CFPB

On Tuesday, Sept. 6 the US Senate is set to begin hearings on the confirmation of President Obama’s choice of Richard Cordray as Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and The Washington Public Interest Research Group (WashPIRG) is calling on Senators Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell for their support of this outstanding nominee.

News Release | WashPIRG | Consumer Protection

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau takes over Thursday as nation’s consumer bank cop

As the new Consumer Protection Financial Bureau (CFPB) prepares to take over enforcement of all major financial consumer laws on Thursday, a leading consumer group is announcing the results of a poll showing that an overwhelming majority of likely voters both support the new agency (74 percent) and want Wall Street held “accountable” (77 percent).

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News Release | WashPIRG | Consumer Protection

Senators face important vote on whether or not to protect consumers

In July, the landmark Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) took over as the nation’s first federal financial agency with only one job, protecting consumers. But until it gets a Senate-confirmed director, its powers, especially over payday lenders and other non-banks, are limited.

News Release | WashPIRG | Consumer Protection, Financial Reform

WashPIRG Statement of Support for Confirmation of Richard Cordray as Director of CFPB

On Tuesday, Sept. 6 the US Senate is set to begin hearings on the confirmation of President Obama’s choice of Richard Cordray as Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and The Washington Public Interest Research Group (WashPIRG) is calling on Senators Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell for their support of this outstanding nominee.

News Release | WashPIRG | Consumer Protection

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau takes over Thursday as nation’s consumer bank cop

As the new Consumer Protection Financial Bureau (CFPB) prepares to take over enforcement of all major financial consumer laws on Thursday, a leading consumer group is announcing the results of a poll showing that an overwhelming majority of likely voters both support the new agency (74 percent) and want Wall Street held “accountable” (77 percent).

News Release | WashPIRG | Consumer Protection

Shareholders deserve to know how corporations spend their money in elections

Although millions of Americans contribute money every year to political campaigns and causes that they support, millions more contribute to political causes without even knowing it – as the shareholders of large corporations.

News Release | WashPIRG | Consumer Protection

Chemical Threat Persists in Food and Beverage Packaging

Fourteen of the largest public packaged food and beverage companies still use the toxic chemical bisphenol A (BPA) in their packaging despite studies linking the synthetic sex hormone to developmental problems, heart disease and diabetes, according to a new report by investors Green Century Capital Management (“Green Century”) and As You Sow.

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Result | Consumer Protection

Keeping Toxic Chemicals Out Of Children’s Toys

Until recently, toy makers did not have to report when formaldehyde or other toxic chemicals were used in toys that could end up in kids’ mouths. Thanks to a new WashPIRG-backed law, they now have to, and we’ll be better able to hold manufacturers accountable for the safety of children’s products.

Result | Consumer Protection

KIDS’ SCHOOL LUNCHES NOW SAFER

For years, America’s schoolchildren have been eating beef, chicken and other foods that would have been rejected as substandard even by fast food chains. Thanks in part to our advocacy, the U.S.D.A. has stopped buying such low-quality meat for school lunches.

Report | Consumer Protection

Trouble in Toyland

The 2011 Trouble in Toyland report is our 26th annual survey of toy safety. In this report, we provide safety guidelines for consumers when purchasing toys for young children and provide examples of toys currently on store shelves that may pose potential safety hazards.

Report | Consumer Protection

Big Banks, Bigger Fees

Since Congress largely deregulated consumer deposit (checking and savings) accounts beginning in the early 1980s, the PIRGs have tracked bank deposit account fee changes and documented the banks’ long-term strategy to raise fees, invent new fees and make it harder to avoid fees.

Report | U.S. PIRG | Consumer Protection

Analysis of H.R. 1, House Continuing Budget Resolution

Analysis of H.R. 1, House Continuing Budget Resolution

Report | WashPIRG | Consumer Protection

2010 Trouble in Toyland toy safety report

Over the past twenty five years, the PIRG report has identified hazards in toys and children’s products that could cause an acute injury from small parts that pose a choking hazard, to strangulation hazards from cords on pull toys, to laceration hazards from edges that are too sharp. Our report has led to at least 150 recalls and other regulatory actions over the years, and has helped us to advocate for stronger federal laws to protect children from unsafe products.

Report | WashPIRG | Consumer Protection

Trouble In Toyland: The 24th Annual Survey Of Toy Safety

The 2009 Trouble in Toyland report is the 24th annual Public Interest Research Group (PIRG) survey of toy safety. This report provides safety guidelines for parents when purchasing toys for small children and provides examples of toys currently on store shelves that may pose potential safety hazards.

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