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Consumer Protection

OSPIRG’s consumer program works to alert the public to hidden dangers and scams and to ban anti-consumer practices and unsafe products. If you have a question or concern on a consumer issue, see OSPIRG's consumer resources below, or ask your question directly. We'll get back to you with an answer.

RESOURCES FOR CONSUMERS

TROUBLE IN TOYLAND

For 27 years, OSPIRG’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, OSPIRG 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.

RENTERS RIGHTS
In the United States, you can protect your legal rights only if you know what those rights are. Renting is a two-way street. Renters and landlords may unknowingly jeopardize their rights by not fulfilling their legal responsibilities.

Know your rights

SEE ALL CONSUMER RESOURCES

Issue updates

News Release | OSPIRG | Consumer Protection

Survey Finds Dangerous Toys on Store Shelves

Dangerous or toxic toys can still be found on America’s store shelves, according to Oregon Student Public Interest Research Group’s 27th annual Trouble in Toyland report.

> Keep Reading
Report | OSPIRG | Consumer Protection

Trouble in Toyland

The 2012 Trouble in Toyland report is the 27th annual Oregon Student Public Interest Research Group (OSPIRG) survey of toy safety. In this report, OSPIRG 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
News Release | OSPIRG | Consumer Protection

New Survey Shows Banks Still Hiding Fees from Consumers

A survey of hundreds of banks and credit unions in 24 states and the District of Columbia found that fewer than half of branches obeyed their legal duty to fully disclose fees to prospective customers on the first request, while 12% provided no fee information at all. The surveys conducted in Oregon show that just over half of branches complied, while 15% did not provide any fee information at all.

> Keep Reading
Report | OSPIRG | Consumer Protection

Big Banks, Bigger Fees 2012

Over the last six months, state PIRG staff conducted inquiries at 250 bank and 116 credit union branches in 17 states and the District of Columbia and reviewed bank fees online in these and 7 other states. This report also includes consumer tips and a comparison shopping guide for Oregon consumers.

> Keep Reading
Blog Post | Consumer Protection

The CFPB is now taking your credit bureau complaints | Ed Mierzwinski

Excellent news! The CFPB is now taking complaints about credit bureaus and credit reports. And unlike the FTC, the CFPB has been given tools so that it will be able to "help consumers with individual-level complaint assistance on issues with their credit report."

> Keep Reading

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News Release | OSPIRG | Consumer Protection

Survey Finds Dangerous Toys on Store Shelves

Dangerous or toxic toys can still be found on America’s store shelves, according to Oregon Student Public Interest Research Group’s 27th annual Trouble in Toyland report.

> Keep Reading
News Release | OSPIRG | Consumer Protection

New Survey Shows Banks Still Hiding Fees from Consumers

A survey of hundreds of banks and credit unions in 24 states and the District of Columbia found that fewer than half of branches obeyed their legal duty to fully disclose fees to prospective customers on the first request, while 12% provided no fee information at all. The surveys conducted in Oregon show that just over half of branches complied, while 15% did not provide any fee information at all.

> Keep Reading
News Release | OSPIRG | Consumer Protection

Higher Bank Fees Now the Norm for Consumers

New report confirms what consumers already know – bank fees are increasing and free checking accounts are harder to find.

> Keep Reading
Media Hit | Food

Senate Passed Farm Bill Includes Wyden Amendments

Portland-based consumer advocacy group, OSPIRG panned the bill. 

> Keep Reading
Media Hit | Food

Farm Bill swaps one wasteful tax subsidy for another

The measure is called the Farm Bill, and it is a classic example of a good idea hijacked by special interests.

> Keep Reading

Pages

Result | Consumer Protection, Health Care

Plan to cut health care waste moves ahead in Oregon

Members of the Oregon Health Policy Board approved a plan to cut health care administrative waste and save Oregonians $100 million per year in the process.

> Keep Reading
Result | Consumer Protection, Higher Ed

Wasteful student lender subsidies cut. Winner: students.

Congress finally ended wasteful subsidies to student lenders that diverted billions of dollars annually away from helping more students go to college.

> Keep Reading
Result | Consumer Protection, Health Care

Victory! Oregon Legislature Passes Landmark Health Reform

The bills expand access, tackle soaring costs, and set a path for possible public plan option. Passage of HB 2009 bodes especially well for national reform efforts to tame health care costs, which include many of the same strategies as the Oregon bill.

> Keep Reading
Report | OSPIRG | Consumer Protection

Trouble in Toyland

The 2012 Trouble in Toyland report is the 27th annual Oregon Student Public Interest Research Group (OSPIRG) survey of toy safety. In this report, OSPIRG 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 | OSPIRG | Consumer Protection

Big Banks, Bigger Fees 2012

Over the last six months, state PIRG staff conducted inquiries at 250 bank and 116 credit union branches in 17 states and the District of Columbia and reviewed bank fees online in these and 7 other states. This report also includes consumer tips and a comparison shopping guide for Oregon consumers.

> Keep Reading
Report | OSPIRG Foundation | Food

Apples to Twinkies 2012

In this report, we find that in 2011, over $1.28 billion in taxpayer subsidies went to junk food ingredients, bringing the total to a staggering $18.2 billion since 1995. To put that figure in perspective, $18.2 billion is enough to buy 2.9 billion Twinkies every year - 21 for every single American taxpayer. 

> Keep Reading
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.

> Keep Reading
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. 

> Keep Reading

Pages

Blog Post | Consumer Protection

The CFPB is now taking your credit bureau complaints | Ed Mierzwinski

Excellent news! The CFPB is now taking complaints about credit bureaus and credit reports. And unlike the FTC, the CFPB has been given tools so that it will be able to "help consumers with individual-level complaint assistance on issues with their credit report."

> Keep Reading
Blog Post | Consumer Protection

The Dos and Don'ts of Campus Banking | Celeste Meiffren

Given the confused campus card marketplace, students often have a hard time finding the right card and end up with an account littered with fees and inconveniences. Here is a list of Dos and Don'ts to enable students to navigate the marketplace and be aware of the tricks and traps of these cards.

> Keep Reading
Blog Post | Consumer Protection

Discover Card Pays Deceptive Marketing Penalty | Ed Mierzwinski

Discover Card has paid a $14 million civil penalty to the CFPB and FDIC, plus refunded over $200 million to ripped-off consumers, in the latest case involving useless, junk credit insurance and credit monitoring add-ons that consumers didn't buy-- but paid for.

> Keep Reading
Blog Post | Food

Farm Bill is a giveaway to Big Ag | David Rosenfeld

Disappointingly, the U.S. Senate passed a version of the Farm Bill today that continues to send billions of tax dollars to giant agribusinesses. It is now up to our House representatives to ensure that real reform happens.

> Keep Reading
Blog Post | Consumer Protection

CFPB launches searchable credit card complaint database today | Ed Mierzwinski

Joining agencies that regulate cars, toys and other consumer products, medical devices and airline service, today the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau rolls out a searchable online complaint database. The CFPB's new tool, for credit cards to start,  comes in the nick of time to help consumers who the LA Times warns may be tricked into automatically signing up for an over-priced junky Citibank add-on monitoring service.

> Keep Reading

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Tools & Resources

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.

TOYSAFETY.MOBI

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