About Us | Consumer Protection

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class="col-xs-12"> <a class="header__logo" href="https://www.consumerprotection.govt.nz" title="Consumer Protection"> <i class="icon-cp-logo hidden-print"></i> <img class="visible-print-block" src="/_resources/themes/app/dist/images/cp-logo-bw.png?m=1731270281" alt="Consumer Protection" /> </a> <a class="visible-xs visible-sm xs-text-center header__hamburger hidden-print" href="/about-us#" aria-label="Open main menu"> <i class="icon-hamburger"></i> </a> <div class="header__search hidden-print"> <form id="site-search-form--compact" action="search/SearchForm" method="GET" enctype="application/x-www-form-urlencoded" role="search" class="form form--compact-search"> <fieldset> <legend class="sr-only">Search</legend> <label for="CompactSearchForm_SearchForm_Search" class="hidden">Search</label> <div class="form__field form__field--text"> <input id="CompactSearchForm_SearchForm_Search" type="text" name="Search" value="" title="Enter search terms" /> </div> </fieldset> <button type="submit" 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class="page-header__title">About Us</h1> <h2 class="page-header__intro">We help build your know-how so you can solve your consumer problems.</h2> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="container layout" id="layout"> <div class="row"> <div class="col-xs-12 col-lg-10 col-lg-offset-1"> <div class="spacing-top"> <div class="element dnadesign__elemental__models__elementcontent" id="e816"> <div class="ElementContent BaseElement DataObject content-element__content defaultcontentblock colour-white"> <p>We help New Zealanders who feel that they are not getting a fair deal when they purchase or use goods and services. If you’d like to avoid issues when you’re dealing with a business or service, we can help you figure out what your rights are, and what to do next.</p> <p>Our website is packed with information providing consumer law guidance, tools, and connections to know how to solve your problem. </p> <h2>What we do</h2> <p>We’re closely connected to organisations and government agencies to provide trust-worthy and credible guidance. While we are not able to act on your behalf, we can direct you to who can.</p> <p>We work together to research problems you might have and what’s the best way to solve them and we can inform you on how the law applies to your situation.</p> <p>Our connections and research allow us to understand consumer issues, so we can provide high quality guidance.</p> <p>This guidance and our tools are useful for consumers to resolve their problems. We cover consumer law, the resolution process, and provide tips on how to get a fair deal.</p> <h2>Why we do what we do</h2> <p>Consumer laws are self-enforcing. Consumers have power when they understand consumer laws and the resolution process. Providing the guidance and tools for consumers to help this happen helps ensure that markets are fair. </p> <p><strong>We bring it together for you, making sense of it all so that you can get a fair deal.</strong></p> <h3>Providing information and tools to resolve issues</h3> <p><a href="/general-help/consumer-rights-finder">Consumer Rights Finder</a><br><a href="/general-help/common-consumer-issues/refund-replacement-repair">Refund, replacement, repair</a><br><a href="/general-help/consumer-laws/consumer-guarantees-act">Consumer Guarantees Act</a></p> <h3>Gathering insights</h3> <p>See information about and links to consumer research and reports commissioned or undertaken in recent years:</p> <p><a href="/research-and-resources/research">Consumer protection research</a></p> <p><a class="external" rel="external" href="https://www.mbie.govt.nz/">Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment website<span class="nonvisual-indicator">(external link)</span> </a></p> <h4>Other insights</h4> <p>In 2023, our website saw 645,661 users, 905,843 sessions, and 728,177 engaged sessions.</p> <p>Our Consumer Protection Facebook page delivered 1,813,000 impressions in 2023.</p> <h4>Consumer channels we support</h4> <p><a class="external" rel="external" href="https://www.cab.org.nz/">Citizens Advice Bureau<span class="nonvisual-indicator">(external link)</span> </a></p> <h4>Working in consumer partnership </h4> <p>We are members of these forums:</p> <ul> <li>The Consumer Protection Partnership Forum</li> <li>Interagency Fraud Working Group</li> <li>Motor Vehicle Forum</li> <li>Financial Capability Forum</li> </ul> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="js--sticky-end"></div> </div> <div class="footer-search hidden-print"> <div class="container"> <div class="row"> <div class="col-xs-12 col-sm-10 col-sm-push-1 col-md-8 col-md-push-2 col-lg-6 col-lg-push-3"> <h2 class="footer-search__heading">Looking for other topics?</h2> <div class="footer-search__form"> <form 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footer__link--js-nav" href="general-help">General help</a> <a class="footer__link footer__link--js-nav" href="help-product-service">Help by product & service</a> <a class="footer__link footer__link--js-nav" href="guidance-for-businesses">Business guidance</a> <a class="footer__link footer__link--js-nav" href="news-and-media">News & updates</a> <a class="footer__link footer__link--js-nav" href="research-and-resources">Research and Resources</a> </div> </div> </div> <div class="col-sm-12 col-md-6 footer__block footer__block--center"> <div class="row"> <div class="col-sm-12"> <div class="footer__hairline footer__hairline--sm"></div> <h5 class="footer__heading">What are you looking for?</h5> </div> <div class="col-sm-12 col-md-6"> <a class="footer__link" href="/general-help/consumer-laws/consumer-guarantees-act">Consumer Guarantees Act</a> <a class="footer__link" href="/general-help/consumer-laws/fair-trading-act">Fair Trading Act</a> <a class="footer__link" 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