Consumer Assistance Council

We are here to fight for you every day. While we can’t help everyone, we are successful in about 75% of our cases. Here are some examples of the work we do.

A South Yarmouth woman needed a small loan. She applied for a loan on a website after reading the terms of the agreement and agreed to the APR of 24.99%. She made weekly payments and after 10 months, looked to see how much she still owed. To her surprise the interest rate had been changed to 52.91%. After the lender threatened to call the debt collectors on her, CAC stepped in and the woman was able to have her rate reduced and save $3,500.

Local Mashpee residents purchased an outdoor table and chairs from a store in Plymouth.  Less than a year later, the table began to degrade. After contacting the store and waiting months for a replacement, the couple finally received a new table. Once again, the table began to show premature age. This time the consumer  reached out to the store and asked for a refund. The store refused. They then went  to Mass.Gov and filed a complaint with the Attorney General’s Office, who sent the case to us. With the help of one of our Volunteer Case Managers, the consumers received their refund of $1,090.

A woman from Orleans purchased a car from a dealership. The day after picking up the car, the check engine light went on and she had to return the car to the dealer, where the repairs were made under warranty. A month later, the car broke down again with the same problem. This time the dealer said they would have to charge her for the repairs, which would be thousands of dollars. With the help from Consumer Assistance Council, the dealership agreed to make the repairs for free, saving the consumer $5000.

A Falmouth consumer continued to be billed for furniture that had been returned to the store. The store had unknowingly issued the credit to the wrong credit card, so the real consumer was still being charged. The consumer kept complaining to the store and their credit card company for five months, with no satisfaction. The CAC became involved; we negotiated with the store and the credit card company. Within 9 days, the five-month-old billing problem was corrected and the client stopped being charged $1000 for the items they returned.

An area consumer ordered sofas worth $3500 but never received her furniture. It turns out the store went bankrupt but was still taking orders for furniture that they never intended to deliver. The CAC was brought onto the case and the consumer received her new sofas within 60 days. 

A Barnstable consumer who never had a satellite TV service was being billed to the tune of $1742 by a collection agency. The CAC wrapped the case in three weeks and the consumer received an apology from the company which, it turns out, had been billing the wrong person,

A visitor from Rhode Island bought a truck from a mid-Cape used car dealer for $10,450. The truck would not pass inspection in Rhode Island  because the body was rotted out and the truck was deemed to be unsafe. The dealer would do nothing to help. The case was brought to the CAC’s attention. We advised the consumer to get other inspection to prove his case. The CAC then presented this evidence to the dealer,  who agreed to refund the entire purchase price of the truck and the sales tax.  

An East Falmouth man woke up one day to find his truck had been repossessed. The man had made the payment one day before it was due, but the lender repossessed his truck anyway. We stepped in and shortly afterward, his truck was returned.

A Chatham resident was denied coverage by his extended auto warranty plan because the insurer claimed the consumer didn’t complete certain paperwork that he didn’t understand had to be completed.  We started working on the case, negotiating with the business. The consumer received a $610 check covering the full costs of the repairs.