Protecting Consumers

PROTECTING CONSUMER SAFETY—Toys should not be toxic or dangerous for children to play with. Our food should not make us sick. The terms for banking and credit accounts should be clear and easy to understand.

LOOKING OUT FOR CONSUMERS

NCPIRG’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 26 years, NCPIRG’s Trouble In Toyland report has surveyed store shelves and identified choking hazards, noise hazards and other dangers. One year, our research led to the recall of a cloth children’s book that we found contained lead.

BIGGER BANKS BIGGER FEES

In April, NCPIRG 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.

Issue updates

Report | NCPIRG | Consumer Protection

Trouble in Toyland: The 25th Annual Survey of Toy Safety

The 2010 Trouble in Toyland report is the 25th annual Public Interest Research Group (PIRG) survey of toy safety. In this report, U.S. PIRG provides safety guidelines for consumers when purchasing toys for small children and provides examples of toys currently on store shelves that may pose potential safety hazards.

> Keep Reading
Report | U.S. PIRG | Consumer Protection

Chemical Insecurity: America’s most dangerous companies and the multimillion dollar campaign against common sense solutions

Across the United States, thousands of industrial facilities use and store hazardous chemicals in large quantities that pose major risks to their neighbors. More than 100 of these facilities would each put at least one million people at risk of injury or death in the event of a chemical release.

> Keep Reading
Report | U.S. PIRG | 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.

> Keep Reading

Time Warner raising cable rates

Time Warner Cable is continuing a New Year's tradition -- as in years past, the Triangle's cable television provider will raise rates effective Jan. 1.

> Keep Reading

Blue Cross, Zagat to rank doctors

Blue Cross and Blue Shield is teaming up with Zagat dining guide to provide doctor rankings for its members.

> Keep Reading

Pages

Be careful about toxins in toys, groups urge

Despite new federal rules that limit certain toxins in children's toys, shoppers should still be on guard, according to U.S. PIRG, a federation of state public interest research groups.

> Keep Reading

Childproof Your Relative's Home

A new toy safety report by North Carolina Public Interest Research Group reminds parents to be aware of toys with small parts as well as toys that may contain toxic chemicals or magnetic hazards.

> Keep Reading
News Release | NCPIRG | Consumer Protection

Consumer Group Alerts Shoppers to Hidden Toy Hazards

Hazardous toys are still sold in stores across the country, despite a new law overhauling the nation’s product safety watchdog agency, according to the 23rd annual toy safety survey released today by the North Carolina Public Interest Research Group (NCPIRG). This survey was released today during a press conference at WakeMed Hospital.  Guest speakers included Ashley Chase, Public Interest Advocate for NCPIRG, Dr. Courtney Mann, Medical Director of WakeMed’s Children Emergency Department, and Jennifer Slusser, a concerned parent.  The group also warned that the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is taking actions to delay one of the new law’s toxic toy protections indefinitely.

> Keep Reading

Get ready to dig deep for power bills

If you live in Wake County - or anywhere else served by Progress Energy - your electricity rates are going up this weekend. The typical household's rate will jump just over 10 percent. The increase, which also affects businesses, is supposed to allow the utility make up for higher fuel costs. While gas prices have been dropping, Progress uses coal to generate half its power and those prices aren't going down.

> Keep Reading

Consumer Group Alerts Shoppers to Hidden Toy Hazards

Hazardous toys are still sold in stores across the country, despite a new law overhauling the nation’s product safety watchdog agency, according to the 23rd annual toy safety survey released today by the North Carolina Public Interest Research Group (NCPIRG). This survey was released today during a press conference at WakeMed Hospital. Guest speakers included Ashley Chase, Public Interest Advocate for NCPIRG, Dr. Courtney Mann, Medical Director of WakeMed’s Children Emergency Department, and Jennifer Slusser, a concerned parent. The group also warned that the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is taking actions to delay one of the new law’s toxic toy protections indefinitely.

> Keep Reading

Pages

Report | NCPIRG | Consumer Protection

Trouble in Toyland, 23rd Annual Toy Safety Report

The 2008 Trouble in Toyland report is the 23rd 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. We visited numerous toy stores and other retailers to find potentially dangerous toys and identify trends in toy safety. This year, we focused specifically on toys that contain lead and phthalates in our research. 

> Keep Reading
Report | NCPIRG | Consumer Protection

Total Recall: The Need for CPCS Reform Now

The year 2007 was called the year of the recall. But in 2008, recalls are up, according to Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) data. Already, as these data show, more toys and children’s products have been recalled in the first half of this year than in the first half of last year, a supposed “100-year-flood” period. Yet the remedial CPSC reform legislation passed overwhelmingly by both the House and Senate in response to that 2007 recall wave has yet to become law.

> Keep Reading

Mixed Signals: How TV Retailers Mislead Consumers on the Digital Television (DTV) Transition

One year from now 22 million Americans who rely on free over-the-air analog broadcasting will be at risk of losing access to TV. On February 17, 2009, analog televisions that receive over-the-air signals will go dark, unless they are retrofitted with digital converter boxes. For many Americans who are hearing about the transition for the first time, information about the change comes from electronic store retailers, where consumers ask what is necessary to maintain TV reception-- a primary source for news, information and entertainment.

> Keep Reading
Report | NCPIRG | Consumer Protection

Who Pays for Faulty Construction? How North Carolina Families Bear The Burden For Shoddy Building Practices

Owning a home is the most important investment many families will ever make, but it is one of the least protected products on the market. When homeowners in North Carolina suffer because of mistakes made by builders, they face a variety of unfair and unnecessary obstacles, and have too few tools to hold builders accountable. This report examines five case studies in shoddy construction and makes recommendations for homeowners and policy makers to protect home investments. Below are summaries of two case studies:

> Keep Reading

Pages

View AllRSS Feed

TOY SAFETY TIPS ON-THE-GO

From toxic chemicals to choking hazards to dangerous magnets, see what dangerous toys to watch out for while you shop.

Consumer Alerts

Join our network and stay up to date on our campaigns, get important consumer updates and take action on critical issues.

Support Us

Your donation supports NCPIRG's work to stand up for consumers on the issues that matter, especially when powerful interests are blocking progress.

/* Site Analytics code end */