Protecting Consumers

LOOKING OUT FOR the Public

PennPIRG’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, PennPIRG’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, PennPIRG released a report in which we surveyed more than 350 bank branches and revealed that fewer than half 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.

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Report | PennPIRG Education Fund | Consumer Protection

Transparency in City Spending

Following our earlier studies of government spending at the state level, this report evaluates the progress of America’s 30 largest cities toward “Transparency 2.0” – a standard of encompassing, one-stop, one-click budget accountability and accessibility.

Report | PennPIRG | Consumer Protection

Trouble in Toyland

The 2012 Trouble in Toyland report is the 27th annual Pensylvania Public Interest Research Group (PIRG) survey of toy safety. In this report, PennPIRG 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.

News Release | PennPIRG | Consumer Protection

New Survey Shows Free Checking Widely Available At Small Banks But Banks Still Hiding Fees from Consumers

> Keep Reading

Report | PennPIRG | Consumer Protection

Big Banks, Bigger Fees

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 addresses the following questions: How easy is it for consumers to shop around for financial services? Are banks complying with current fee disclosure requirements? Can consumers still find free or low-cost checking accounts, or has free checking ended?

News Release | PennPIRG | Consumer Protection

Small Farmers and Citizens Speak Out Against Agricultural Subsidies in Farm Bill

Small farmers and ordinary citizens across the country are taking a stand against wasteful agricultural subsidies in the federal Farm Bill. With only a few weeks left before they adjourn for the election, reauthorizing or extending the Farm Bill is one of Congress’s top priorities.

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News Release | PennPIRG | Consumer Protection

New Survey Shows Free Checking Widely Available At Small Banks But Banks Still Hiding Fees from Consumers

> Keep Reading

News Release | PennPIRG | Consumer Protection

Small Farmers and Citizens Speak Out Against Agricultural Subsidies in Farm Bill

Small farmers and ordinary citizens across the country are taking a stand against wasteful agricultural subsidies in the federal Farm Bill. With only a few weeks left before they adjourn for the election, reauthorizing or extending the Farm Bill is one of Congress’s top priorities.

Media Hit | Consumer Protection

Debt Trap: Keep payday and predatory lenders out of Pennsylvania- Editorial

The Patriot-News Editorial board speaks out against a bill that would allow payday lenders to charge triple diget interest rates. This bill is opposed by PennPIRG and a coalition of organizations throughout Pennsylvania.

News Release | PennPIRG Education Fund and Demos | Consumer Protection

Report: “Pennsylvania Lives at Risk”

Philadelphia, PA – A new report by Demos and PennPIRG finds that Pennsylvanian’s lives, health and livelihoods would be at risk if so-called “regulatory reform” proposals were to become law, slowing or stopping the regulatory process.

News Release | PennPIRG | Consumer Protection

Survey Finds Toxic or Dangerous Toys on Store Shelves

Dangerous or toxic toys can still be found on America’s store shelves, according to Pennsylvania Public Interest Research Group’s 26th annual Trouble in Toyland report.

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Report | PennPIRG Education Fund | Consumer Protection

Transparency in City Spending

Following our earlier studies of government spending at the state level, this report evaluates the progress of America’s 30 largest cities toward “Transparency 2.0” – a standard of encompassing, one-stop, one-click budget accountability and accessibility.

Report | PennPIRG | Consumer Protection

Trouble in Toyland

The 2012 Trouble in Toyland report is the 27th annual Pensylvania Public Interest Research Group (PIRG) survey of toy safety. In this report, PennPIRG 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.

Report | PennPIRG | Consumer Protection

Big Banks, Bigger Fees

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 addresses the following questions: How easy is it for consumers to shop around for financial services? Are banks complying with current fee disclosure requirements? Can consumers still find free or low-cost checking accounts, or has free checking ended?

Report | PennPIRG Education Fund | 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.

Report | PennPIRG Education Fund | 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.

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Blog Post | Consumer Protection

Putting Public Health and Safety First | Allison Cairo

Over the years, Americans have demanded - and learned to count on - government safeguards to protect the air we breathe and the food we eat. Unfortunately, a slew of proposed anti-regulatory bills targeting government safeguards are putting Pennsylvanians at risk.

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Blog Post | Consumer Protection

DON’T FREEZE OUR PUBLIC HEALTH AND CONSUMER SAFETY PROTECTIONS | Alana Miller

Last year, in the 175 days that the U.S. House of Representatives was in session, it passed more than 190 anti-regulatory bills. Putting profits over public safety and they are still at it. Next up is H.R. 4078, the “Regulatory Freeze for Jobs Act of 2012,” a bill that wrongly calls for a halt on all public health and consumer safety protections until the unemployment rate reaches six percent. The House Judiciary Committee is expected to mark up the bill today, Tuesday, March 20.

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Blog Post | Consumer Protection

50 YEARS AGO THIS WEEK, JFK USHERED IN MODERN CONSUMER PROTECTION ERA Alana Miller Ed Mierzwinski

People of almost any age know a lot about the Kennedy administration with its optimistic beginnings and its sudden, tragic end. Yet many have probably never heard of one of JFK's important legacies -- his declaration that consumers have rights that deserve protection.

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Blog Post | Consumer Protection

Today, CFPB to announce overdraft fee investigation, unveil "penalty box" disclosure, possibly end $39 lattes | Ed Mierzwinski

Would you knowingly agree to pay a $35 fee each time you used your debit card at point of sale, simply to allow you to purchase a $4 latte with only $2 in your account? Even the banks didn't think so, that's why they made “standard overdraft protection” a feature of your checking account that you didn't need to choose. Banks also changed the default switch on debit and ATM cards to allow overdrafts

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Blog Post | Consumer Protection

Senators: Oppose bills that threaten public health | Alana Miller

Dear Senators Casey and Toomey,

PennPIRG writes to urge you to oppose all legislation that would undermine the nation’s most basic public health and safety protections. In particular, we are writing about three bills: The Regulatory Accountability Act (RAA S.1606), the Regulatory Flexibility Improvements Act (RFIA S. 1938) and the Regulations from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny (REINS S.299). All three bills pose a dangerous threat to the health and safety of the American people.

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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.

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