Have a complaint? Post it online

Earlier this month, the advocacy group Consumer Federation of America (CFA) released its review of popular, free, consumer complaint Web sites.

The downside: The sites don’t resolve grievances nor do they pretend to. But with slogans such as “Tell the World. Be Heard,” and “Consumers in Control,” they give tens of thousands of mad people every year a loud and powerful voice that sometimes gets results.

“These Web sites provide a unique source of information because the complainants get to tell their stories,” said Stephen Brobeck, CFA’s executive director.

He noted that complaints consumers file with government agencies and business groups often are not made public. At the same time, gripes about a particular company or product can be useful to a consumer who is doing research before pulling the trigger.

Brobeck and his team researched more than a dozen general sites that provide forums for a broad spectrum of complaints. CFA didn’t look at sites geared toward a specific industry, such as cars.

The organization identified among those as potentially useful: complaints.com, consumeraffairs.com, complaintsboard.com, ripoffreport.com and my3cents.com.

The CFA team recommends that shoppers researching a product or company start with my3cents.com, which has been around for 10 years. The site has the largest number of recent complaints, CFA found. It lists the number of complaints by company, offers information about complaint resolution and is user-friendly. It also gives consumers the opportunity to be positive and post a testimonial.

The site, along with complaints.com and complaintsboard.com, allows consumers to contact grousing complainants who agree to receive e-mails. Few of the complaints posted on any of the Web sites devolved into hysteria or name-calling, CFA found.

“We would be fairly critical if there was more emotion than fact in these postings, but that is not our assessment,” Brobeck said.

Not surprisingly, most of the complaints were about larger companies and, in fact, most of the top complaint getters on my3cents.com were Fortune 200 companies, CFA found. The sites may not be as useful to the many consumers considering doing business with smaller companies.

Consumers aren’t the only ones looking at these Web sites, Brobeck said. Consumer protection agencies, lawyers, even law enforcement agents troll the sites for information to support a case or investigation.

Bill Cloud, a spokesman for the Governor’s Office of Consumer Affairs, said that the Georgia agency looks at the complaint Web sites from time to time.

“We may look at them to see if we are on the right trail, but we don’t want to use the sites as a basis of investigation,” Cloud said. “And in terms of people going to these sites, I think they have to take everything with a grain of salt. Who knows who is putting what on these sites? They may have an ax to grind.”

The state agency investigates complaints from consumers alleging unfair and deceptive business practices. Unlike the complaint Web sites, the office is charged with resolving complaints that pan out.

“We have to put the referee’s outfit on and determine who shot John,” Cloud said.

“You have a situation where a consumer can make any complaint that they want to, but the question is the validity of the complaint. Likewise, the business can make any defense they want but the question is the validity of the defense. That is why you have investigative power and subpoena power and the ability to negotiate settlements,” he said.

As a rule, the office looks for “a pattern” of complaints. Complaints filed with the office are confidential. Cloud thinks that is a good thing. “We should be viewed as a fair arbiter,” he said.

The complaint Web sites all promise not to share e-mail addresses or personal information of complainants, but there may be exceptions should law enforcement agencies come calling.

Many national companies also monitor the sites and the broad exposure may make it worth their while to work with consumers who feel that they have been wronged.

“If enough people file complaints, and there is enough information, those companies may very well take action,” Brobeck said.

Brobeck urged consumers to explore other avenues such as the Better Business Bureau, Federal Trade Commission, state consumer protection agencies or small claims court.

“These are third parties that may help you resolve a complaint,” Brobeck said. “But the Web sites allow consumers to publicize the facts of their complaints to a large number of other consumers — and to do so very efficiently.”

Where to complain

A growing number of Web sites allow consumers to post complaints at no cost about what they view as unfair businesses practices or defective products. The sites have become tools for consumers looking for services or contemplating purchases. Consumer Federation of America studied the sites and found the following to be among the most useful.

More help

Consumers can find helpful information and learn about filing complaints about unfair business practices:

Better Business Bureau

Check our sources

● Consumer Federation of America

The report on free consumer complaint Web sites is available here.

● Governor’s Office of Consumer Affairs