A forest of numbers, offers, price rises, new taxes: life is tough for the poor consumer, the damned soul of our times. Mortgages, loans, investments, due taxes statements, insurances, fines, phone contracts, vacation packages, on-line purchases: behind everything that should be just ordinary administration, often in ambush there are injustices, frauds, deception and bureaucratic tangles And though the Internet era has made everything more immediate, it has certainly not contributed to making things safer. So here is a guide of concrete, simple and exhaustive advice – the result of founder and president of Codacons, Carlo Rienzi’s years of experience in the field – for avoiding all the possible traps disseminated throughout the life of the consumer, but also for answering the question every deceived victim asks: this happened to me, now what must I actually do to solve the problem? The author gives us little glimpses of daily life with the stories of a typical family – mother, father, children, the grandmother – that despite itself is enmeshed in episodes like those any kind of consumer might have to face sooner or later: book a holiday in a lovely resort by the sea and end up in a dilapidated building kilometres away from the beach; sign for a phone contract with super attractive rates and then receive a steep bill for using services you did not request; buy stock or bonds proposed by your bank and end up with nothing. To make things truly easy for the harassed, defenceless citizen, the book has an indispensable index to asert one’s rights: the first part with facsimiles of complaint and cautionary letters; and the second with the principle legislative references subdivided by subject, and finally a part with addresses of institutions or associations to turn to in case of need.