Guides

Practical consumer guides: reading reviews critically, checking recalls, returns, warranties and getting your money back.

These are the skills that make every other purchase easier. Learn how to tell a recurring fault from a one-off complaint, how to spot the signs of manipulated reviews, how to check whether something you own has been recalled, and what to do, step by step, when a product disappoints and the seller is slow to help.

The guides draw on official sources such as the Federal Trade Commission and the Consumer Product Safety Commission, and each one links to them. They are written for shoppers in the United States, and your rights may differ elsewhere. For a quick look at a listing, try our buyer tools.