[edit] The Six Basic Rights

[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. The Right was 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 several pieces of legislation passed between 1960 and
1980.

[edit] The Right to Education

To have access to programs and information that helps consumers make better marketplace
decisions at all times or a place where they can be orally educated.

[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.

Laws and rights for the consumer do not rightly coincide with the rights