What Can You Do
If you've fallen prey fraud or the schemes & deceptive business
practices of any company or organization & you want to try to
get a refund or correction, or you want to make sure these kinds
of things don't happen to others, here is a list of possible ways
Canadians & others can get help & report these problems.
- First put your complaints in writing to the company
& state the amount of money you expect to be refunded, or
the correction you expect. Note in the letter that interest, damages,
punitive & legal/collection costs will be added to that amount
if not attended to promptly. Give them a deadline to respond to
you by (perhaps 30 days). Send the letter by registered mail so
you have proof of acknowledgement of receipt. This establishes
your attempt to deal directly first, before litigating. Expect
that without some clout, if you are offered any refund at all,
it may not be for the whole amount.
- File a Small Claims Court case with your provincial
or state Ministry of Attorney General if the amount is under their
limit (often $10,000). You usually don't need a lawyer for this,
but you do have to do your homework, or hire a ParaLegal
 .
It can take up to a year or more to complete the process &
get your money back. Ontario,
British
Columbia,
Québec,
Alberta,
Manitoba
- If you paid money to the company by credit card, contact
the credit card company to see if they will assist you
in retrieving the money obtained for deceptively sold or fraudulent
services. There are now some supervisors within credit card companies
who are aware of certain companies deceptive business practices
& they may be able to charge back these companies & credit
you with your money.
- The Canadian federal Competition Bureau can
start an investigation for certain consumer fraud issues. They
aren't officially allowed to reveal that an investigation is underway
because of policy rules. This is one of the best long term hopes
of getting these deceptive business practices stopped or reduced
in Canada, especially if they involve more than one province.
Government of Canada
Competition Bureau (Industry Canada)
Phone 1 800 348-5358
web site http://www.competition.ic.gc.ca
You can file a complaint online
- The Ontario Government can look into certain consumer complaints.
Consumer Services Bureau of the Ontario Ministry of Consumer
and Business Services
Jim Watson is the Minister of Consumer and Business Services.
1 800 889-9768 or phone (416) 326-8800, or fax (416) 326-8665
250 Yonge St., 32th Floor
Toronto ON M5B 2N5
http://www.cbs.gov.on.ca/mcbs/english/2452_3fe.htm
online complaint form.
- Reporting
Economic Crime On-Line
(RECOL). File a written fraud report on-line & RECOL will
distribute your complaint to the proper Canadian authorities,
whether it be municipal, provincial or federal police (RCMP),
or private authorities & they'll even notify international
authorities when appropriate. This service is administered by
the National White Collar Crime Centre of Canada and is supported
by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and other participating agencies.
- File your written complaint with your local Better Business
Bureau (BBB) even though this may not result in much
or any action taken. The more complaints the local BBB receives,
the less likely they are to rate a company as "satisfactory"
or to allow them to be a member. Make sure you request that the
BBB gets back to you with a reply to your complaint, otherwise
you'll never hear from them.
Canadian BBBs
U.S.A. BBBs.
- Canadians contact your Federal
Member of Parliament (MP).
- Canadians contact your Member of Provincial Parliament
(MPP). Ontario,
- Contact your local city counselor at city hall
to make sure they are aware of the problem.
- Complain to local newspapers who run ads for
a company & ask them to stop running the ads if there is deception.
- See if you can interest a local TV station or national TV
network to do a short consumer advocate piece on the
company during the news, or other appropriate consumer or current
affairs programs.
- Warn your friends & relatives of deceptive
business practices or fraud.
- If you are an American, consumer complaints are not usually
handled by the Federal Trade Commission, but are usually handled
at a state level, so contact your state Attorney General's
Office.
- File a Rip-Off Report at the Bad
Business Bureau
& or post your story on your own web site.
By Doug Hembruff.
First published June 23, 2004
Last updated July 15, 2004
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