Log 1-1st 40 Hours

Jonathan Gill – 904321596 6/16/2009 Field Study – Log #1

I. Daily Entries Monday June 8th, 2009 Hours: 6 I browsed over the state of New Jersey’s Consumer Fraud Act to familiarize myself with the regulations that govern industry and commerce within the state. Dawn Brown, the assistant director delegating the work I do, gave me several case files to look over. The case files contain formal complaints against various businesses. They also contain copies of any pertinent contracts, receipts, and other related documents. After reading over the files, I worked case by case with Dawn deciding what action would be appropriate. She walked me through the first few cases explaining what she believed to be a good approach. As we progressed she began asking me what I believed to a good approach and would either reaffirm or suggest a better way to handle the case. Each case is unique so there is no protocol as to the steps to be taken or the order in which to take them. After going through several cases she gave me another stack of files to look over and this same process was repeated. She then showed me how the online complaint database works. Basically, you type in a case number and retrieve information about that particular case. The database is used to keep track of any action taken by fraud investigators. For example, if a call is made to the consumer to ensure that the complaint has not been resolved in the time that has elapsed since it was initially filed, a note is made in the database describing this phone call. Wednesday June 10th, 2009 Hours: 6 Dawn assigned me 4 cases of my own today. I am the primary investigator for these cases. The complaints were filed against a swimsuit company, a pet store, a Laundromat, and a cellular phone service provider. Tasks included making phone calls to the consumer and the business, drafting letters, sending emails, and using the database to keep notes on all of this activity. For example, in the case of the pet store, I contacted the business to make them aware that a complaint has been filed against them. I then briefly described the nature of the complaint (in this case a dog was deemed unfit for sale at the time of purchase by a licensed veterinarian and the consumer is requesting a full refund) and gave the name of the complainant. I then asked for the manager’s side of the story to see if there were any discrepancies and made the appropriate notes in the database. After reviewing the regulations for pet stores and speaking with the consumer I discovered that an election of options form was not filled out. This is considered a violation of regulations and could be used against the pet store if they choose to not refund the customer’s money. I attempted to contact the consumers and businesses for all four cases.

Friday June 12th, 2009 Hours: 6 After speaking with the consumer who filed the complaint against the swimsuit company I learned that she had received the refund she was asking for. This occurred in the time that elapsed between when the complaint was initially filed and when I received the complaint (we are about 2 months behind). Since the consumer got her money back I was able to close the case. Since it was the first case I was closing Dawn walked me through the process of closing a case. I followed up on the other cases I am working on– made phone calls, drafted a letter, etc. I also had to get my parking pass from another department within the building so that I do not have to pay for parking any longer. Monday June 15th, 2009 Hours: 6 I was able to close another case today. The consumer who filed the case against the Laundromat was determined to be unjustified in his complaint. This particular case involved swipe cards used to purchase time on washing machines and driers. The consumer wanted to be reimbursed for the remaining balance on his card, but since the cards are refillable and reusable, the Laundromat is not obligated to do so. I received three new cases today. The complaints are against a foot & ankle center, a clothing store, and a furniture store. I began work on these three cases–I read over the files, contacted the consumers, and contacted the businesses. Wednesday June 17th, 2009 Hours: 6 I am finding that some cases are more easily closed than others. After working on the foot & ankle center case I realize that this will require more work than the others. On one hand I have a disgruntled consumer claiming that his insurance claim was improperly processed by the doctor’s billing center. On the other side I have the billing center’s supervisor telling me that the claim was indeed processed correctly. I may contact the insurance company to find out for myself what the story is. The clothing store complaint appears to be a case of miscommunication between a sales representative and the consumer. After speaking with the business owner I am not sure the consumer is going to get her money back since she has no proof to support her side of the story and the business owner is firmly opposed to giving a refund. With no documentation it is difficult to prove anything and the consumer tends to lose. I am learning very quickly that it is important to get things in writing. I am more hopeful for the consumer who filed the complaint against the furniture store, as the store is part of a major retail chain. The floor manager I spoke to seemed to be eager to resolve the matter quickly. I am confident the consumer will get what he is asking for. It seems that smaller businesses are less willing to negotiate unless there is a strong case against them. It appears that larger businesses and corporations tend to be

more willing to negotiate as they can absorb a certain amount of loss and would prefer to avoid the negative publicity (all complaints are open to the public for a period of three years). Friday June 19th, 2009 Hours: 6 Today I followed up on the correspondences I have going with the clothing store, the furniture store, the cell phone provider, the pet store, and the foot & ankle center. Today I also received my photo ID so I no longer have to sign in and out whenever I enter and leave the building. In addition to making calls and drafting letters, I made copies of cases that are being transferred to another state. When there are numerous complaints against the same entity sometimes the attorney general will file a lawsuit against the company. When this occurs, the A.G.’s office typically handles any complaints against the business as it helps build their case. Monday June 22nd, 2009 Hours: 6 I closed another case today. I attempted mediation with the case against the clothing store to no avail. I filled out the paperwork filed away the case folder. Since the other four cases were at a stand still (I was awaiting letters or phone calls from either the consumer, the business, or both) Dawn gave me three more cases to begin working on. One is against a restaurant, another is against a lawn service provider, and another is against a contractor. The case against the contractor involves the largest amount of money of any case I have investigated yet–somewhere around $4,000. I am having a difficult time tracking down the owners of the restaurant as they have closed. I learned today that one can send a letter to the postmaster for a given city or town and the postmaster will tell you where mail is being forwarded for a particular address. I filled out the form with the restaurant’s address and sent it to the postmaster. Another tactic fraud investigators use to track down a business owner(s) is to contact the tax assessor’s office for the respective municipality and find out who owns the building that the business operated out of. The owner of the building may have contact information or know the whereabouts of the business owner(s). Another useful tool investigators use is a website called superpages.com. Superpages is like an online phone book, but with additional features. For example by doing a reverse lookup one can search by phone number to find the name and address of the business or residence that uses that phone number. Superpages.com is proving to be quite useful.

Total Hours: 42

II. Appraisal of Skills A situation that had an effect on me is one involving a case against a contractor. I needed to contact the contractor to inform them that a case was pending against them; I also needed to determine who was in charge and who was responsible for the work that was done (or more specifically the work that was not done). There were two numbers in the case file. The first time I called the first number there was no answer; the first time I called the second number there was an answer and I spoke to one of the individuals working for the contractor. I explained that I was an investigator with the Middlesex County Department of Consumer Affairs and that we have a complaint filed against the contractor stemming from work that was done incorrectly a couple years ago. I had the name of the person with whom the complainant made a verbal agreement with and asked to speak with that individual. The person on the phone explained that he was the brother of that individual (I will call him George) and that George was no longer running the business. I asked if he was familiar with this particular job and he said that he was not. Since I needed to speak with George I asked the man if he could find George and tell him to contact our offices. Some time passed before I decided to call again. I tried the first number again hoping I would get in contact with George himself. This time it was George’s cousin that answered the phone. After explaining who I was and why I was calling I asked if he knew George’s whereabouts. He said that he George is still working for the company. I asked him to tell George that he needs to call consumer affairs as soon as possible. After more time passed I felt as though I was getting the runaround. So I decided to draft a letter to the contractor outlining the nature of the complaint and requesting a response. I have yet to hear back from anyone. I should note that I confirmed with my supervisor that it is best to speak with the person with whom the complainant directly dealt with, as they are more informed on the situation and better suited to answer questions. I chose this event because it allowed me to realize that in certain situations drafting a letter first and then calling to follow up could be a better approach. My reasoning is that a letter is a more formal way of expressing an idea. Also, a letter can be referenced in the future if there is any question as to what contact was made or attempted to be made (we keep copies of all letters and faxes in the case folder). In retrospect, I feel that I could have been more assertive with the two individuals I spoke with over the telephone. While it is important to not be threatening, as this behavior tends to inspire defensiveness, it is important to be assertive and direct. I believe I was direct, but I also believe that I could have been more assertive. Perhaps if I did so I would not have gotten the runaround, but then again, maybe I would have gotten the same response–one can never know. I do know that a bit more assertiveness may not be a bad thing if I feel I am being brushed off. I believe that not being assertive enough can be a weakness in some situations. I feel it depends on the personality with whom you are communicating with. Some individuals may respond undesirably and feel that they are being threatened. Others may recognize the importance of the situation if they pick up on an assertive tone of voice. There is a

balance to be achieved and a unique balance with each unique person. This is a skill I believe I can improve upon. Particularly, having the emotional intelligence to know what degree of assertiveness will yield the greatest result.

III. Information about the Organization Structure 1. The Middlesex County Department of Consumer Affairs was founded in 1976. 2. See document entitled “Diagram of Organization”