The Iowa Attorney General’s Office is setting up a temporary office in Cedar Rapids today and Wednesday.
Spokesperson Lynn Hicks says Investigator Al Perales will be on hand. “Al will be there to answer any questions that consumers have regarding consumer protection issues after the storm,” Hicks says. “Things like price gouging, hiring contractors and avoiding all kinds of scams like that. He can take consumer complaints, he can answer questions.”
Hicks says he’s heard a lot and seen a lot of concerns on social media — but they need more to investigate. “You know, that’s not necessarily translating into written complaints. And really, we need that to thoroughly investigate this and get all the details,” Hicks says. “We are encouraging people to file complaints — and if you have concerns and you are not quite sure — you can come see Al on those days. You can call us or email us as well.”
He says they are already working on some complaints. “We’ve gotten more than 50 price gouging complaints….probably about 20 of those are from the Linn County area — so it is across the state. A lot of them are concerns about electrical contractors who are doing work and people feel like they are charging too much,” Hicks says.
He says once they have the formal complaint they can get the process moving. “The first thing that we try to do is stop any harm. If there is harm occurring, if there are people being overcharged, we try to stop that. And then we go from there to see if other action is needed,” Hicks says.
The mobile clinics are open today and Wednesday from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. at the U.S. Cellular Center. If you can’t make it there, you can file a complaint by calling 888-777-4590 or email [email protected]