THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, December 22, 1994 TAG: 9412200105
SECTION: NORFOLK COMPASS PAGE: 03 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY VICKI LEWIS, STAFF WRITER,
LENGTH: Long : 109 lines
ROBERT L. GILL SR. is ``watching the store.''
As director of the Office of Consumer Affairs for the City of Norfolk, Gill is doing his part to protect both consumers and local businesses.
The Office of Consumer Affairs, which was established in 1974, handles complaints from consumers about misrepresentation, deceit and fraud in the marketplace.
``A big part of our job is mediation,'' said Gill, a former Norfolk police officer. ``We bring the two sides together and try to resolve the conflict.''
Of the 18,000 cases his office worked on last year, 78 percent were resolved.
To maintain this high rate of resolution, Gill and his staff are specially trained in mediation.
To mediate, he said, ``the first thing you have to do is be a good listener. You have to be able to decipher and unscramble information, along with having a keen sense of the marketplace.''
Mediation can be tricky because both sides come together with the idea that they're not going to give an inch, he said.
``But you have to give them an opportunity to be heard and have grounds to compromise.''
In September, Gill was elected president of the National Association of Consumer Protection Investigators, which includes more than 600 investigators from federal, state and local agencies, plus Canada and American Samoa.
In the past several years, there has been a big change in some of the complaints that Gill's office deals with. Instead of misunderstandings between consumers and businesses, he's dealing with a lot of just plain fraud.
``There are people in the marketplace who are determined to take your money - not by happenstance but by design.
``But sadly to inform them, '' he said, ``there is someone watching the store.''
Recently, Gill's office was instrumental in tracking down out-of-state scams that were being played on local residents. When someone received notice that he had won $5,000 in the mail, Gill's office tracked down and informed the business that in Virginia if you say that someone has won a prize, you have to give them that prize. After informing the business' attorney about the Virginia Prize and Gift Act, the company agreed to suspend mailings in Virginia.
Gill's office also investigated a company that advertised that a large airline was coming to Norfolk and needed computer operators and aviation mechanics.
``We called this number, and they said, `Yes, we have jobs at the Norfolk airport.' But we knew that wasn't true.''
The company, which asked for $50 and a copy of a resume, was tracked down to a boiler-room operation in an apartment in Detroit.
``When people didn't hear anything,'' Gill said, ``they probably thought they just didn't get the job.''
Gill said his office now spends 75 percent of its time chasing down these types of shady businesses.
``With the cooperation of this office, the police and the commonwealth's attorney, we've been able to keep some of them out of our community,'' he said. ``They purposely set out to take people's money.''
That makes Gill angry.
``Those people take money from our legitimate businesses. Businesses that hire our children. Businesses that keep money in our community and build our tax base.''
In fact, his office is no enemy of local businesses but a friend.
``When someone acts unethically, it can cast a shadow on other businesses,'' he said.
When some shady home-improvement operators set up shop in Hampton Roads a few years ago, he said, ``all home improvement operations were under a cloud because of a few.''
This cloud of mistrust, he said, can stifle development and growth of legitimate businesses.
One of the responsibilities of his office is to provide consumer education programs and keep both consumers and businesses abreast of constantly changing laws.
``We try to educate the consumer and our business community,'' he said. ``So we're singing from the same sheet music.''
Often, he said, his office is confused with the Better Business Bureau. The BBB, he explained, is ``a group of honorable businessmen who have banded together to ensure ethical business practices. We're charged with enforcing consumer laws; they aren't.''
When someone has a complaint with a business, Gill said, the first thing they should do is try to resolve it themselves.
``A lot of times people will call here first, without trying to resolve it on their own.''
If consumers have no luck resolving the complaint on their own, they can call his office and speak to an ``intake'' person. If the complaint has merit, it will be turned over to an investigator.
``We work as a team,'' Gill said. ``Most of us were raised under ethical standards. If someone gave their word, we believed it.''
But these days, he said, ``If it sounds to good to be true, it isn't.''
Gill is a 1967 graduate of Norfolk State University. He and his wife, Beverly, have have three children: Robert Jr., 22, a soon-to-be graduate of James Madison University, William, 19, who is in the Navy, and Sabrina, 12, a student at Rosemont Middle School. MEMO: If you know someone whom you feel is deserving of a Thumbs Up! feature,
call Vicki Lewis at 446-2286.
ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by RICHARD L. DUNSTON
Robert Gill Sr., a former Norfolk police officer, is director of the
Office of Consumer Affairs for the city of Norfolk.
by CNB