Video: David Lazarus on the battle over the new consumer complaints database
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Consumer columnist David Lazarus writes today about a battle over a database that is being created of consumer complaints about a wide variety of products. On Wednesday, the Consumer Product Safety Commission will vote on how the database will work — and how comprehensive its listings will be.
From the column:
The manufacturing industry has been lobbying aggressively to prevent the database from being a repository for virtually any gripe involving product safety. The industry’s fear is that nearly all goods can appear shoddy when exposed to the full brunt of consumer kvetching. Consumer advocates, meanwhile, have been pushing to make the database as complete as possible so that people will be able to make informed decisions about the products they purchase, as well as have a resource for sharing problems with others.
Let us know what you think about the issue. Would you use the database? What information do you think should be included?
--Pat Benson