The Watchdog
How the tools work, why they exist, and the code behind them — real consumer problems, in plain technical English.
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A $340 blender arrived cracked and Amazon's 30-day return window had closed. A chargeback citing "not as described" got the full refund in 12 days — Amazon's cooperation wasn't needed at all.
Read article →A fake tracking link or a subscription you never signed up for — the FTC doesn't resolve your individual complaint, but here's what reporting to ReportFraud.ftc.gov actually accomplishes.
Read article →Scammers now clone real, authorised firms down to the logo and phone number. The only check that actually protects you takes two minutes — the FCA Register. How to use it properly.
Read article →Identity fraud doesn't show up as a bill you forgot to pay — it shows up as credit you never applied for. How to get your free statutory report from all three UK agencies.
Read article →HTTPS and a single trust score aren't proof a store is legit — scammers use the same signals real stores do. A realistic checklist before you hand over your card details.
Read article →Scammed by a seller in another country? Your own agencies aren't powerless. How eConsumer.gov coordinates cross-border complaints — and why to open a chargeback in parallel.
Read article →A company's real character shows in how it handles a mistake. Why the BBB complaint pattern tells you more than the A+ or the F sitting next to its name.
Read article →A retailer's returns page isn't the law. The Consumer Rights Act 2015 gives you a 30-day right to reject faulty goods for a full refund — and here's exactly what to say.
Read article →Three calls, two departments, a reference number nobody recognises. What Resolver actually does to get a stuck UK complaint moving — and what it can't guarantee.
Read article →Sorting out a rogue trader doesn't mean paying a solicitor. The free Citizens Advice consumer helpline gives you the legal grounding — use it before you write a single letter.
Read article →Send a £300 item by standard 2nd Class and lose it, and your compensation is £20. The deadlines, the caps by service, and exactly what you need to claim from Royal Mail.
Read article →Tracking says "delivered" but you never got it. If you ordered from a shop, the retailer — not Evri — is responsible under Section 29. The Denial of Receipt process explained.
Read article →For a retailer order shipped by DPD, the retailer owes you a refund under Section 29 — regardless of DPD's compensation cap. Why you should contact the retailer, not DPD.
Read article →The police won't catch your scammer — but the report starts the paper trail your bank needs to refund you under the PSR rules. How to file it and use your crime reference number.
Read article →Cleaning disputes account for 50% of UK tenancy deposit claims. Here's the legal framework landlords use against tenants — and the documentation that blocks it.
Read article →You don't have to keep calling. File a free complaint with a federal regulator and your US bank is on a 15-day clock to respond — here's how to do it right.
Read article →Your bank's polite, final "no" isn't the end of the road. A free, government-backed arbitrator can overrule it and order up to £455,000 in compensation.
Read article →71% of freelancers have dealt with non-paying clients. Here's the behavioral data on what bad clients look like before the project starts — and a system to score them.
Read article →The supplement industry isn't regulated like medicine. Here's the data on heavy metals, undisclosed drugs, and fairy dusting — and how to audit your own labels.
Read article →More extensions doesn't mean more protection. Here's the architecture problem — and how consolidation fixes it.
Read article →A streaming trial you forgot about can be used to dismiss an unrelated lawsuit years later. Here's how forced arbitration clauses work.
Read article →Most cookie banners are designed to manipulate you into accepting tracking. Here's the code behind the trick.
Read article →The padlock icon doesn't mean your card is safe. Here's the JavaScript technique criminals use to clone your payment data on fully legitimate sites.
Read article →60% of online retailers fail basic pricing transparency laws. Here's the JavaScript behind fake discounts — and the tools that expose it.
Read article →A weekend build using Claude AI to flag scam SMS and emails in real time — the Cloudflare Worker proxy pattern, the prompt, and the one parsing bug that fooled me.
Read article →Flagging fake urgency, trap checkboxes and confirmshaming in real time with pure regex and DOM inspection — no AI, no API calls, works offline.
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