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Delaware Department of Justice  -  Joseph R. "Beau" Biden, III, Attorney General

CONSUMER PROTECTION UNIT

CONSUMER COMPLAINT FORM

Fill out the PDF form below and then mail it along with any supporting documents to our office.

Avoid Consumer Fraud Brochure

You will need to send two things for your complaint to be filed correctly: 

1.  Fill out the complaint form: Consumer Complaint Form
     It is in Adobe Acrobat 4.0 format and can be saved to your computer

2.   You must send all documentation and other materials related to your complaint with the form above.

Then send the documentation to us by one of the following methods:

Fax it:
 

    302-577-6499

Be sure to have a coversheet with the total number of pages.
Email it:
 

consumer.protection@state.de.us

Be sure to attach the form and each of the documents that support your claim to the email. 

 

Mail it
 

  Delaware Department of Justice
  Consumer Protection Division
  Carvel State Office Bldg.
  820 N. French St.
  Wilmington, DE 19801

 

COMPLAINT PROCESS 

If a consumer has a complaint about a business, an intake investigator will gather information about the problem. If the complaint involves a possible violation of a consumer protection law, the complaint is referred to a supervisor for review. However, in most instances, the problem does not involve a violation of a law but is a contract dispute between a consumer and a business, contractor or landlord. In such cases, intake investigators conduct informal mediations by phone or letter. The mediation process is often successful. If mediation is not successful and no law has been broken, the consumer will have to contact an attorney to take further action. 

The two primary statutes enforced by the Consumer Protection Unit are the Consumer Fraud Act and the Deceptive Trade Practices Act. Consumer fraud occurs when a business makes a misrepresentation during the sale or lease of goods or services. Consumer fraud always involves a lie or deception. A breach of contract occurs when one party to an agreement fails to perform the promises made under the contract. However, failure to perform all of the contract promises does not amount to consumer fraud. Most consumer complaints involve a breach of contract but not consumer fraud.

A trade practice is deceptive if the business makes a misrepresentation about the quality or benefits of its goods or services. The law prohibits business from making false statements about their own goods or services or the goods and services offered by other businesses.




Last Updated: Thursday, 12-Feb-2009 10:35:41 EST
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