Resources for Consumers

This page contains links to resources for researching companies and products, reporting fraud, filing consumer complaints, and websites with tips on how to shop and find good deals to stretch your dollar.

Digital Television Change - February 19, 2009

The best place to get information about the change from analog to digital TV, the coupon program available for getting converters, etc. can be found at: http://www.dtv2009.gov

Fuel/Driving

Please note that while these websites generally do a good job at reporting gas prices at the pump, they are not always accurate 100% of the time. The prices you see reported here are NOT guaranteed to be accurate.

• Gasoline Prices Website by The University of Michigan
• GasBuddy.com
  
  Get gas prices reported by drivers, see a map of gas prices, etc.
• Gasoline Corner
  
  A State of Michigan website for maximizing your gasoline usage.

Filing a Complaint

• Better Business Bureau
  
  BBB Web sites all across North America are being updated to provide you with more information and features to help you find trustworthy businesses and charities.
• Attorney General's Office, State of Michigan
  
  The Attorney General's Office for the State of Michigan is responsible for providing consumer protection services, handling consumer complaints, and many other consumer-related functions.
• Federal Trade Commission - Consumer Information
  
  The Bureau of Consumer Protection works to protect consumers against unfair, deceptive, or fraudulent practices in the marketplace. The Bureau conducts investigations, sues companies and people who violate the law, develops rules to protect consumers, and educates consumers and businesses about their rights and responsibilities. The Bureau also collects complaints about consumer fraud and identity theft and makes them available to law enforcement agencies across the country.
• Consumer.gov
  
  A "one-stop" link to a broad range of federal information resources available online. It is designed so that you can locate information by category - such as Food, Health, Product Safety, Your Money, and Transportation.
• Complaints.com
  
  Complaints.com is a database of personal, first-hand, consumer experiences with products and services.

Product/Company Research

A good place to start researching a company for complaints is the Better Business Bureau. You can learn more about a product or company using many of GDL's Research Databases:

• Newspaper Databases - search for articles in the news about a product, service, or company.
• Business and Law Databases - Look for information about companies and products. For example:
  • Business and Company Resource Center
    
    Brings together company profiles, brand information, rankings, investment reports, company histories, chronologies and periodicals. Search this database to find detailed company and industry news and information.
  • Dunn & Bradstreet Million Dollar Database
    
    Look up company information, annual sales, number of employees, corporate family tree, etc.

Consumer Ratings

There are many places on the Internet and resources in our libraries where you can see consumer ratings of products and companies as well as tips for getting good deals. Here are a few resources that you might find helpful:

• Bizrate.com
  
  Rates companies and includes a price comparison search engine for products.
• Consumer Reports Guides available at the Library
• Consumer Guide by HowStuffWorks.com - A listing of products
• Epinions
  
  Part of Shopping.com, this site contains user-submitted reviews of a wide range of products.