Consumer Alert: Here’s a great tool for getting answers when customer service won’t help

ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WHEC) — Today I’m alerting you to a fantastic consumer tool I just found. It’s a way to be heard when you’re dealing with a big business behemoth and customer service can’t or won’t solve your problem.

You may remember a consumer investigation I brought you a couple of weeks ago concerning Kurt Hertzog, a local resident who was having trouble with GM Financial.

The company was charging him for months of late fees that just didn’t make sense. After all, for two and a half years his statements said his payments were on time and he didn’t owe any money. Why was he now getting a bill for 29 months of late fees? He called customer service repeatedly and got nowhere. Ultimately I was able to speak to company leaders who had the power to take care of the problem. Hertzog got a refund.

Monday I discovered a delicious consumer treat. It’s so yummy I could not wait to share it. It empowers you to contact company leaders yourself. It’s called Elliot Advocacy.

It’s a non-profit consumer organization, and it keeps what they say is the largest database of company executives available on the internet.

There are executives for loads of big business, everything from credit cards to cable. This nonprofit is putting the power in your hands. You can write the CEO directly. What a find!

Here’s a link to it, and the rest of my Deanna’s Do List for getting what you need when customer service won’t help:

• Keep good records. It was easy for me to plead his case because I had evidence that GM Financing never informed him about the missed payment.
• Take notes during the call including the name of the agent. If they give you a first name ask for the last initial. If the agent can’t help, ask to speak to a supervisor. And don’t give up until they make one available.
• When all else fails, take your case to social media.

Will the Fed raise interest rates?

If you’ve been following my Consumer Alerts you know I’ve been watching the Federal Reserve closely. Will it raise interest rates to try to slow down inflation? We could get a better idea this week. The Federal Reserve will discuss when it will take the first steps toward slowly raising interest rates. Talks will likely happen over several months. Rising prices are putting pressure on the fed to raise rates to avoid runaway inflation as we saw in the 1970s.

I’ll be following it closely for you.