Consumer Law

April showers bring free shredders!

Posted on March 11, 2009
The season for spring cleaning and filing taxes is a great time to destroy sensitive documents you no longer need. But if the thought of tediously hand-feeding piles of personal papers into your home shredder makes it tough to get motivated, we have a solution...

Florida company sued over free gas vouchers

Posted on March 10, 2009
The Washington Attorney General?s All Consuming blog has become a hotspot for gripes about so-called free gas vouchers. Since posting a Nov. 3 warning about the difficulty of redeeming the vouchers, we?ve received 168 comments from consumers throughout the nation who say they haven?t received their promised gas...

Stranger than fiction ? the consumer complaints we remember

Posted on March 09, 2009
Sometimes we receive strange calls. I recently asked the volunteers and staff in the office?s four Consumer Resource Centers about their most memorable consumer inquiries. They shared stories ranging from the silly to the bizarre and even grotesque.

Do you really own your online profile and photos?

Posted on March 06, 2009
Do you really know what you've agreed to when you post photos or chat with your friends on a social-networking site? The fine folks at SmartMoney.com took a magnifying glass to the fine print on the privacy policies of YouTube, Twitter, MySpace, Facebook, LinkedIn, Match...

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Unregistered businesses hurt economy

Posted on March 04, 2009

Simon says: Turn down the power bill

Posted on March 04, 2009

Attorney General and BBB to answer consumer calls on KHQ

Posted on March 04, 2009

Choosing a wireless plan

Posted on March 03, 2009

Phone companies ring up the most consumer complaints

Posted on March 03, 2009

Be a Scambuster! Join us this week at a fair!

Posted on March 03, 2009

Seattle City Light warns about cons posing as bill collectors

Posted on March 03, 2009

Promoters of calorie-burning drink told to shape up

Posted on February 26, 2009
Enviga was the first drink to boast not zero, but negative calories. But as for the buzz that drinking the carbonated, green tea blend will result in weight loss, attorneys general say the evidence is nada.

AT&T Mobility to refund some cell customers

Posted on February 26, 2009
Calling all current and former AT&T Mobility customers: If you have a wireless phone, you may have paid $2.99 per month without your knowledge for a program called Roadside Assistance. If you didn?t use the service and didn?t authorize the addition of the service to your wireless account, you may qualify for a refund under a new settlement.

Celebrity comedians become backseat drivers for new public service campaign

Posted on February 25, 2009
You?ve never met a backseat driver quite like the ones portrayed by comedians Rachel Harris, Fred Willard and Rob Riggle as part of a new media campaign aimed at reducing youth reckless driving. 

Debt collector to consumer: ?&#@$%*!?

Posted on February 20, 2009
The Attorney General?s Office is suing an Everett-based collection agency accused of harassing, threatening and cussing at consumers.

The AGO is a-twitter!

Posted on February 19, 2009
Today the Attorney General?s Office launched a twitter site, giving us yet another medium for sharing information with the public. Follow us!

State pulls brakes ? again - on moving company

Posted on February 19, 2009
In November 2008, we posted a story about the Utilities and Transportation Commission?s decision to pull the operating permit for All My Sons, a Kent-based moving company. The agency cited deceptive business practices and numerous violations. Apparently the Sons didn?t get the message because they kept right on moving.

Digital TV transition deadline delayed

Posted on February 17, 2009
All Consuming has been telling you for months about the need to prepare for the switchover from analog to digital TV. Well, today was supposed to be the big change-a-roo. But Congress and the President pushed back the deadline to June 12 to give consumers a break...

Love bugs: E-cards that carry viruses

Posted on February 13, 2009
When it comes to e-mailed Valentines, cupid?s bow may be tipped with poison. We?ve warned you before about why it?s important to use caution when looking for love online,  but it?s worth a repeat because those evil electronic cards are making the rounds again...

What you need to know about renter?s insurance

Posted on February 12, 2009
Thinking about renting a home? Then you should also be thinking about renter?s insurance.

Safer Internet Day and the fight against techno-crime

Posted on February 10, 2009
It's Safer Internet Day. Attorney General Rob McKenna marked the day with a call to action on legislation to protect against technology-wielding criminals. McKenna was flanked by U.S. Attorney Jim McDevitt, sponsors of two bills recommended by his Youth Internet Safety Task Force, Look Both Ways author Linda Criddle and task force members during a press conference Monday at the state Capitol.

Phony insurance agents targeting Hispanic businesses

Posted on February 10, 2009
The Washington Attorney General?s Office is alerting residents about a phone scam in which Spanish-speaking callers claim to be representatives of an insurance company.

Online lenders sued for harrassment

Posted on February 09, 2009
Online loans are an easy way to get money. But a report by KIRO TV shows that some come with an obnoxiously high price. The story includes interviews with two Washington residents who were hounded by harassing phone calls ? and reported the illegal behavior to the Federal Trade Commission...

Claims that Yaz could cure PMS were bloated, say attorneys general

Posted on February 09, 2009
A TV commercial for the Yaz birth control pill showed women singing ?We?re not gonna take it,? while kicking and punching balloons printed with words such as ?irritability,? ?moodiness? and ?bloating.? Alas, suggestions that the Yaz birth control pill could treat premenstrual syndrome and all severities of acne were exaggerated, say a group of 27 attorneys general...

Aid for consumers dunked by BlueHippo

Posted on February 06, 2009
Pink elephants may go mysteriously unnoticed, but not BlueHippo. The company, which pitches personal computers to those with less-than-perfect credit, was the target of a federal lawsuit resolved last year. BlueHippo made a splash again when the Washington Attorney General?s Office announced today that it, too, reached a settlement.

Settlements with concrete contractors pave way for consumer refunds

Posted on February 04, 2009
A father-and-sons contracting business that built up a heap of customer complaints about shoddy service and unfair billing practices agreed to partial refunds for homeowners under two settlements announced today by the Washington Attorney General?s Office.

Reserve Police Officers Association agrees to stop soliciting donations in Washington

Posted on February 03, 2009
A New York-based charity named the Reserve Police Officers Association agreed to stop soliciting donations in Washington under an agreement with the Attorney General?s Office.

State urge feds to push for affordable mortgages

Posted on February 02, 2009
Attorney General Rob McKenna joined a group of other attorneys general and state banking regulators in sending a letter urging federal officials to encourage national banks and federal thrift-servicing operations to modify mortgage loans that are becoming unaffordable for consumers.

Coke sued over VitaminWater health claims

Posted on January 29, 2009
The Coca-Cola Company has been served notice of a class action lawsuit filed over what the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) says are deceptive and unsubstantiated claims on its VitaminWater line of beverages.

Data Privacy Day occurs during streak of breaches

Posted on January 29, 2009
Data Privacy Day slipped right past me yesterday. ... The educational campaign's timing certainly is right. Just last week, payment processor Heartland Payment Systems reported what might be the biggest data-loss incident of all time. Monster.com also had a scary breach...

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