[decimalenough]

> How else can private citizens keep businesses honest?

I know this was a rhetorical question, but in many countries there is some type of Fair Trading Office, meaning a government body with power to adjudicate consumer complaints about businesses and the legal teeth to enforce its judgements.

[cwmma]

Depending on where you live your state may actually have one of these, in mine it's in the office of the state Attorney General.

[acaloiar]

In Colorado, this is how it's supposed to work.

But then you have companies like Parking Revenue Recovery Services (PRRS), who have already had to settle [1] with the AG once before, and yet the AG refuses to take action on additional complaints, for years.

PRRS sent me a sham parking fee two weeks after their settlement with the AG in 2022.

The AG's response to my complaint

> We have investigated your complaint and based on the information we have received to date, we are taking no further action at this time.

This was three years ago. And Coloradans, faced with an AG that won't do anything for them, have taken to PRRS's non-accredited BBB page to file thousands of complaints [2].

I don't think the BBB would have any effect in this situation either, because PRRS doesn't rely on reputation for its business. They simply rely on having conveniently placed parking lots throughout the city with people needing a place to park.

This was three years ago, and here we are in 2025 and Denver is still dealing with this situation [3] and as far as I know, the AG still hasn't done anything about it.

/vent

[1] https://coag.gov/press-releases/attorney-general-phil-weiser... [2] https://www.bbb.org/us/co/englewood/profile/parking-attendan... [3] https://www.9news.com/article/money/consumer/steve-on-your-s...

[monocasa]

And don't get me started with Wyatt's Towing and the Public Utility Commission (which the CEO of Wyatt's was on the board of).

[QuantumGood]

Letter to the Attorney General is the first step in many states. And often the last.

[happymellon]

Because they normally sort it, or because there are no other customer protections?

[QuantumGood]

You are formally documenting for all future processes that you have filed a complaint, and should include relevant contracts, receipts, correspondence, and support materials. This can be enough to encourage the business to be more responsive.

So it's a low-cost first step that can trigger mediation or settlement and help resolve your dispute (and contribute to broader consumer protection). It's a quick way to signal to the business to work with you.

Submitting a letter or formal complaint can prompt the AG (sometimes) to contact the business in an attempt to mediate or resolve the issue informally. The AG also often offers informal mediation services though some division. The AG’s office sometimes starts investigations based on complaints from the public.

[Eddy_Viscosity2]

> government body with power to adjudicate consumer complaints about businesses and the legal teeth to enforce its judgements

These would in fact be great thing. The problem being that if this existed and did what it was supposed to do, it would only be a matter of time before Trump appointed someone to either destroy it or weaponize it against perceived enemies.

The bigger question is how can we have a body that can both protect consumers from bad businesses AND can also be itself protected from the purchased political influence of those bad businesses.

[smegger001]

Like the consumer financial protection bureau. Twas great while itlasted but it got doge'ed early on.

[ghusto]

> The bigger question is how can we have a body that can both protect consumers from bad businesses AND can also be itself protected from the purchased political influence of those bad businesses

I don't have an answer, but one could be found by looking at places that have just that. In the UK we have the Citizens Advice bureau and the Trading Standards organisation which are safely independent.

Though I have a feeling the answer may be; "Don't live in the USA".