Consumer Bill of Rights
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Before the mid-twentieth century, consumers were without rights with regard to their interaction with products and commercial producers. Consumers had little ground on which to defend themselves against faulty or defective products, or against misleading or deceptive advertising methods.
By the 1950's, a movement called consumerism began to gather a following, pushing for increased rights and legal protection against malicious business practices. By the end of the decade, legal product liability had been established in which an aggrieved party need only prove injury by use of a product, rather than bearing the burden of proof of corporate negligence.
In 1962, President John F. Kennedy presented a speech to the United States Congress in which he extolled four basic consumer rights, later called The Consumer Bill of Rights.
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[edit] The Four Basic Rights
While later expanded, the original six basic beliefs of consumer protection are the most widely recognized.
[edit] The Right to Be Safe
The assertion of this right is aimed at the defense of consumers against injuries caused by products other than automobile vehicles, and implies that products should cause no harm to their users if such use is executed as prescribed. Established in 1972 by the US federal government, the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has jurisdiction over thousands of commercial products, and powers that allow it to establish performance standards, require product testing and warning labels, demand immediate notification of defective products, and, when necessary, to force product recall.
[edit] The Right to Choose Freely
The right to free choice among product offerings states that consumers should have a variety of options provided by different companies from which to choose. The federal government has taken many steps to ensure the availability of a healthy environment open to competition through legislation including limits on concept ownership through Patent Law, prevention of monopolistic business practices through Anti-Trust Legislation, and the outlaw of price cutting and gouging.
[edit] The Right to Be Heard
This right asserts the ability of consumers to voice complaints and concerns about a product in order to have the issue handled efficiently and responsively. While no federal agency is tasked with the specific duty of providing a forum for this interaction between consumer and producer, certain outlets exist to aid consumers if difficulty occurs in communication with an aggrieving party. State and federal Attorney Generals are equipped to aid their constituents in dealing with parties who have provided a product or service in a manner unsatisfactory to the consumer in violation of an applicable law. Also, the Better Business Bureau is a national non-governmental organization whose sole agenda is to provide political lobbies and action on behalf of aggrieved consumers.
[edit] The Right to Be Informed
This right states that businesses should always provide consumers with enough appropriate information to make intelligent and informed product choices. Product information provided by a business should always be complete and truthful. Aiming to achieve protection against misleading information in the areas of financing, advertising, labeling, and packaging, the right to be informed is protected by leveral pieces of legislation passed between 1960 and 1980.
[edit] The Right to Education
To have access to programs and information that help consumers make better marketplace decisions.
[edit] The Right to Service
To convenience, to be treated with courtesy and respect, to responsiveness to needs and problems and to refuse any services offered.
[edit] Advertising
The Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act (1975) requires that a producer provide a warranty stating the standards of performance that the product will be held responsible to meet, and allows that warranty to be either stated explicitly or implied. With respect to advertising standards and consumer interaction with commercial producers, over forty US states have enacted "cooling-off" legislation that permits consumers to change their minds about the purchase of a product when dealing directly with a salesperson.
[edit] Financing
Before the passage of legislation providing protection against such injustices, the actual costs associated with loans were often hidden and near impossible for the average consumer to determine, leaving them at the mercy of their lenders. The Truth in Lending Act (1968) requires disclosure of any costs and interest rates pertaining to loans paid on installment in an effort to curb this corruption.
[edit] Labeling and Packaging
Laws addressing packaging standards, such as accurate content description and the identification of all applicable dangers associated with the product, include The Cigarette Labeling Act (1965), The Fair Packaging and Labeling Act (1966), and The Wholesome Meat Act (1967).
[edit] International Support
In 1985, the concept of consumer rights was endorsed by the United Nations and expanded to included eight basic rights. However, consumer protection can only truly exist in first world, industrialized, or developed nations due to the fiscal resources necessary to properly execute legal protection of consumer interests.
