CONSUMER INFORMATION

Basic Starting Points

• The Best Information on the Net:  Consumer Information -- online information from phone service providers to product ratings, from scam and fraud alerts to law and health resources
• Better Business Bureau Central Web Server for U.S. and Canada
• Catalog Choice -- "a free service that lets you decline paper catalogs you no longer wish to receive."  Requires registration, an email address, and your customer number from catalogs you have received in the mail.  Check out the "Environmental Facts" section to find out catalogs' impact on trees, energy, and global warming!
• Charity Navigator -- "Find a charity you can trust."  This site not only rates charities but also provides tips for older donors, choosing your holiday charity gifts and how to avoid scams.  Did you know that 50% of donations made by individuals is done between Thanksgiving and Christmas?
• Consumer World -- The Consumer Resource Guide; "a public service, non-commercial guide cataloging over 2000 of the most useful consumer resources."  This site also highlights companies that have questionable practices such as installing spyware on home computers.
• Essential.ORG -- a collection of links to various advocacy and activist groups, coalitions, and associations
• FirstGov for Consumers -- Your resource for consumer information from the federal government
• National Do Not Call Registry -- "gives you a choice about whether to receive telemarketing calls at home."
• OptOutPrescreen -- using this website you can "opt out" of receiving offers from credit card and insurance companies for five years or permanently; you will need to provide your name, address, social security number, and date of birth.
• Recalls.gov -- several federal agencies have created this site to help people find out about recalled items from a single source.  Also gives you the option to sign up for emailed notices.

Cars

• Car Care Council -- information for vehicle owners about the importance of preventive maintenance and repairs
• DriveClean -- This site from the California Air Resources Board provides lots of information about zero and near-zero emission cars.  Learn more about hybrids, fuel cells, alternative fuels, and the future of driving cleaner!
• Edmund's Automobile Buyer's Guides -- buyer's guides, new and used car reviews, invoice/MSRP information for new cars, and a lot of other useful information for those thinking of buying a new car
• Fuel Economy Guide -- Looking for the most fuel-efficient SUV?  Want to know more about hybrids and alternative-fuel vehicles?  Check here first.
• Insurance Institute for Highway Safety -- crash test results and vehicle ratings from the "nonprofit research and communications organization funded by auto insurers."
• Kelley Blue Book -- new car prices, old car values, buying and selling tips, and more from a trusted source
• The Lemon Car Page -- general information regarding lemon car cases
• NADA Car Guides -- "Free vehicle pricing and information."
• NHTSA -- (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) How safe is your car?  Has the child seat you've been using been recalled?  Find answers to these kinds of questions on this excellent website.

Credit and Banking

• Annual Credit Report -- residents of Pennsylvania are now eligible to receive 1 free credit report every 12 months from each of the three major credit reporting agencies.  Note that your credit report does not include your credit score unless you purchase the service from a reporting agency.  Go to the Federal Trade Commission's site to find out more.
• Bank Rate Monitor -- find out the rates for mortgages, CDs, loans, credit cards, and more
• The Secret History of the Credit Card -- this site from PBS' Frontline and The New York Times may give you new insight on the history of consumer credit!  Read "Eight Things a Credit Card User Should Know" for some surprising practices, quiz yourself to find out how much you know, read the "More to Explore" section or individual interviews, or watch the complete show.  Viewing the show requires RealPlayer or Windows Media Player.

Government

• Center for Responsive Politics: Opensecrets.org -- "The online source for money in politics data." Find out how and how much money candidates are raising for their campaigns!
• Congressional Accountability Project -- group devoted to pushing congressional reforms as they relate to the senators and representatives, such as ethical questions and congressional pay raises
• Consumer Information Center -- online and for-purchase consumer information brochures from federal agencies
• FactCheck.org -- How much of what you hear during the campaigns is true?  You might be surprised about the facts!  "The Annenberg Political Fact Check is a project of the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania.  We are a nonpartisan, nonprofit, 'consumer advocate' for voters that aims to reduce the level of deception and confusion in U.S. politics. We monitor the factual accuracy of what is said by major U.S. political players in the form of TV ads, debates, speeches, interviews, and news releases."

Miscellaneous Resources

• Committee for Skeptical Inquiry -- "encourages the critical investigation of paranormal and fringe-science claims from a responsible, scientific point of view and disseminates factual information about the results of such inquiries to the scientific community and the public."
• Consumer Product Safety Commission -- the federal agency that helps identify items that pose "unreasonable risks" to people; has lists of recalls by date and topic
• Do It Yourself -- guides on everything from home decoration and improvement to financing and frugal living
• FDA Consumer Magazine Archive -- magazine of the US Food and Drug Administration; has an index of issues from April 1989 - present; however, not all issues or articles are available on the Internet
• National Fraud Information Center -- nonprofit group organized to fight telemarketing and internet fraud
• Pennsylvania Utility Choice Program -- Pennsylvania consumers can now choose their local telephone carrier, electricity supplier and natural gas supplier.  But how do you make the best choice?  Start with this page first to get the facts that can save you money.
• Policy and Ethics: Critical issues and legislation surrounding genetic research -- reports and studies made available by the National Human Genome Research Institute
• Product reviews and reports by Consumer Search -- provides both quick summaries and complete reviews, collected from a variety of publications
• Snopes.com: Urban Legends Reference -- Have a question about something you read online or in an email?  Wonder if it's true or a hoax?  Check out this site which researches "urban legends [as well as] common fallacies, misinformation, old wives' tales, strange news stories, rumors, celebrity gossip, and similar items."
• Understanding Vacation Ownership -- Have questions about time shares?  This site explains how it works, provides tips for buying and selling time shares, and even has a dictionary for the terminology.

Last updated May 6, 2008.

  

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