Volunteer service helps Maine consumers

AUGUSTA – When the used car you just purchased turns out to be a lemon, or the pipes you had fixed in your house start leaking again, whom are you going to call?

The Maine Attorney General’s Volunteer Consumer Mediation Service, part of the state’s Consumer Protection Division, offers free complaint resolution for anyone who uses products and services in Maine.

The service is staffed by 30 volunteers from all over the state, who range in lifestyles from college students to stay-at-home parents to retirees. Volunteers are put through a weekly, 90-minute consumer law class and are expected to commit to five to six hours of volunteer time a week.

Assistant Attorney General James McKenna says the program has been very popular and is mutually beneficial for the Attorney General’s Office and the volunteers.

“We’ve had a bunch of our mediators go to the University of Maine’s law school, and we can refer people for jobs,” McKenna said Wednesday. “It’s also great for us because it means we don’t get overwhelmed by complaints and can help out a lot of people.”

McKenna said they receive more than 8,000 contacts a year from consumers seeking help. Consumers are asked to fill out a complaint form, and from there about 1,600 of those with complaints are handled by the consumer complaint mediators. During the past year, the service recovered more than $561,000 for Maine consumers.

“Every month we take a look to make sure there aren’t repeated, similar complaints against a business,” McKenna said. “If we see a pattern, it moves from mediation into enforcement, as these businesses might be violating the Maine Unfair Trade Practices Act.”

Jane Carpenter, a volunteer with the service who also operates her own mediation business out of the Boothbay area, said she has learned a lot from the program.

“It’s great experience,” Carpenter said Wednesday. “We learn a lot through the course in consumer law they take us through, and they try to bring on a new group twice a year.”

The key aspect of the service, Carpenter said, is conflict resolution.

“We remain totally neutral,” Carpenter said. “We offer both the business and the consumer the opportunity to come to the table and negotiate a reasonable compromise.”

According to McKenna, Maine is a leader in the nation in providing services such as this to its consumers.

“Many states like California don’t have [a consumer complaint service],” McKenna said. “A few years ago the National Association of Attorney Generals put together a book to teach people how do to this, and we helped write it.”

The office is now looking for new volunteers for the spring. Interested people can call McKenna at 626-8842, or e-mail jim.mckenna@maine.gov. Students at the University of Maine at Augusta can receive three college credits for volunteering. To make a complaint to the service, call 626-8850.