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CONSUMER PROTECTION INFORMATION
DOT: Sending in Complaints and Compliments About Air Travel Just Got Easier
January 12, 2009
The United States Department of Transportation (DOT) now has an online form that’s quick and easy to use to file a complaint regarding air travel. If you have access to a computer, you can fill out the form and send it to them quickly. What you need to tell them:
- Whether you were the passenger or if you are filling out the form for someone else
- Your name
- Your contact information, including either email address or phone
- Airline
- Flight Date
- Flight Itinerary (destination cities and flight number)
- Description of the problem
That’s all you need to start the process. You can find the DOT’s Air Travel Complaint/Comment Form:
http://airconsumer.ost.dot.gov/escomplaint/es.cfm.
If you prefer, you can take the HLAA airline complaint form with you next time you fly. Using the information you include on our form, HLAA will help you file your complaint. For more information, contact: Lise Hamlin.
Remember, air carriers must ensure that people who have a hearing loss have timely access to information that the carriers provide to other passengers.
You must identify yourself as a person with a hearing loss.
Airlines must provide you with information about:
- Ticketing, flight delays, schedule changes, aircraft changes
- Connections, flight check-in gate assignments
- Checking and claiming of baggage
- Safety briefings presented to passengers on airlines
- Warnings to passengers to use the restrooms more than half an hour before arrival at Regan Washington National Airport
File your complaint today!
OR
Send a Compliment
When we asked people for their experiences on airlines, HLAA heard from many about the stress of flying with a hearing loss. However, we also heard from a number of people who felt they were well taken care of by the airlines. Complaints are not the only way to be heard. When an airline does well, let them know that too. Send complaints or compliments directly to the Customer Relations Department of the airline. Addresses for the airlines can be found at:
http://airconsumer.ost.dot.gov/pubs.htm.
Whether it’s a complaint or a compliment, let your voice be heard!
Do you know what, if any, laws are in place to protect you when you purchase
a hearing aid?
Do you know your rights as a hearing aid purchaser?
Rights afforded to purchasers of hearing aids depend upon the state where you live and make the purchase. This system has resulted in a patchwork of laws and regulations across the country.
By our count, only 30 states mandate a trial period during which you can decide if the hearing aid you purchased is the right one for you. In those states that require trial periods, you have the right to return the hearing aid and obtain a refund. The amount of the refund varies from state to state and, in a few cases, within the same state.
To read the full article:
http://www.hearingloss.org/learn/consumerprotection.asp
Consumer Protection for Hearing Aid Purchasers
Get the
information for each state. Links and addresses for the state agencies are also provided for where to file complaints.
Consumer Protection for Hearing Aid Purchasers – Update
Since this article was published, we have received a note from one regulator whose state has no provision for a trial period in that state, emphasizing our point that terms of the sales contract may be negotiated to include a trial period even when there is no law in place that provides for a trial period:
Regarding the requirements of trial periods and refunds, our regulations to not require them, but if they do exist for the services provided, then the terms must be specified in the bill of sale. That is, dependent on terms in the sales contract. Which incidentally, a consumer can add their own terms to the contract before signing. I have seen purchase agreements with a wide variety of trial period and refund terms.
Often, consumers feel that we have to sign on the dotted line or not at all. In fact, it is sometimes possible to negotiate the terms of the sales contract for hearing aids. It does not mean the dispenser will always agree to all the terms you request, but it’s worth asking.
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