AUGUSTA – The Consumer Protection Division of the Maine Attorney General’s Office offers free the Consumer Mediation Service. The complaint resolution program is for the use of Maine business and consumers and is staffed by trained volunteers. All mediations are conducted over the phone or by mail from the Attorney General’s Office.

The service has more than 30 volunteers who have been trained as consumer mediators.

New volunteers are trained in the spring and fall. During the first week of the program, the mediators must attend a daily two-hour course in consumer law and mediation techniques.

After the initial training, the mediators are expected each week to mediate consumer complaints for five hours on a schedule convenient to them and attend a one-and-a-half-hour consumer law class. Volunteer mediators are expected to commit themselves to six months of duty.

Students at the University of Maine at Augusta can receive three college credits for serving as a consumer mediator. Interested persons should contact the UMA office of academic affairs and ask for registration information concerning CEO-117, Consumer Law Internship. For details e-mail [email protected] or write to AG’s Office, 6 State House, Augusta, ME 04333.