With globalization, one of the biggest challenges for consumers is to locate the proverbial needle in the haystack for the specific company product that is defective or even dangerous. That product you bought may have been produced by a conglomerate located in Helsinki, using factories in India through a patented process invented in California and funded by a venture fund in Germany.
Often times, the need to drive profits or gain market share have driven some companies to cut corners and engage in bad practices. Sometimes those pressures translate into stealing ideas or using market size to drive smaller competition into oblivion, limiting consumer choices.
For the Consumer Safety Coalition, we believe strongly in the need to identify these bad practices and reveal them into the light of day of news media, regulatory officials and fellow consumer groups.
These practices can include:
- Training employees to use high pressure sales tactics
- Substituting quality materials for lower cost inferior ones
- Knowingly putting products on the market that did not pass safety testing
- Not putting products through thorough testing
- Stealing intellectual property or trade secrets
- Making illegal contributions to elected officials or regulators
- Engaging in manipulation of stock and shares to benefit executives at the expense of public disclosure
Unfortunately, all too many companies engage in some of these practices and there needs to be a public watchdog which is why the Consumer Safety Coalition was founded, but we need your help to keep tabs on these practices and warn other consumers and call on our elected officials to take action.
Be part of the solution!