# How long has this Federal Consumer Center link been down? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 6, 2026, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-has-this-federal-consumer-center-link-been-down/1029850 "2026-05-06T16:37:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2026, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-has-this-federal-consumer-center-link-been-down/1029850/1 "2026-05-06T16:37:00Z")
[FTC’s Consumer Center](https://consumer.ftc.gov/articles/debts-and-deceased-relatives) How long has this link been down? Is there an explanation as to why it is down? ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2026, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-has-this-federal-consumer-center-link-been-down/1029850/2 "2026-05-06T17:21:10Z")
Update: Found this notice from late January that large parts of the FTC are suspended. [Status of FTC Online Services During 2026 Lapse in Funding | Federal Trade Commission](https://www.ftc.gov/ftc-is-closed). I guess “Will be back up shortly” may be wishful thinking on my part. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2026, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-has-this-federal-consumer-center-link-been-down/1029850/3 "2026-05-06T17:24:34Z")
I’m confused, as the link in the OP worked fine for me, so even if it was down earlier, it wasn’t for long. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2026, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-has-this-federal-consumer-center-link-been-down/1029850/4 "2026-05-06T17:32:40Z")
And all I get is “Sorry, [consumer.ftc.gov](http://consumer.ftc.gov) is down for maintenance. It will be back up shortly.” Can they do a partial block? ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2026, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-has-this-federal-consumer-center-link-been-down/1029850/5 "2026-05-06T17:49:27Z")
I remember another recent thread about someone unable to access a government website. I _think_ the issue there was that the person was using a VPN service, which was preventing the site from loading. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2026, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-has-this-federal-consumer-center-link-been-down/1029850/6 "2026-05-06T17:52:35Z")
I don’t. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2026, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-has-this-federal-consumer-center-link-been-down/1029850/7 "2026-05-06T17:53:36Z")
In that case, I have no idea why you’re not able to access that website. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2026, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-has-this-federal-consumer-center-link-been-down/1029850/8 "2026-05-06T18:07:20Z")
I’m not even in the US (in Canada) but I can access the site just fine. Sometimes there are internet routing problems that affect some sites but not others. If you’re on Windows try a “tracert” to that URL and see how far it gets you. ---
**Author:** ![MinkMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minkman/32/19170_2.png) [@MinkMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MinkMan)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2026, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-has-this-federal-consumer-center-link-been-down/1029850/9 "2026-05-06T19:35:40Z")
You could also try loading the link in a new Incognito (for Chrome), Private (Safari) Window or whatever the equivalent is for your browser of choice to possibly eliminate any caching or cookie based problems. For what it’s worth, the url is loading fine for me as well. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2026, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-has-this-federal-consumer-center-link-been-down/1029850/10 "2026-05-06T19:59:26Z")
Private or incognito doesn’t work. Cell phone has different browser (Chrome) but gives same result as the browser (Edge) on my home computer. Roomie’s cell phone works for that site, though. ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2026, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-has-this-federal-consumer-center-link-been-down/1029850/11 "2026-05-06T20:15:39Z")
It’s down for me too. Maybe there’s a CDN or server issue for certain networks along the way. You can view the Way Back Machine’s March archive of it: > **[Debts and Deceased Relatives](https://web.archive.org/web/20260305081044/https://consumer.ftc.gov/articles/debts-and-deceased-relatives)** > > Here’s what to know about the rules and your rights when a collector contacts you about a deceased relative’s debts. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2026, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-has-this-federal-consumer-center-link-been-down/1029850/12 "2026-05-06T20:32:15Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > the link in the OP worked fine for me, I got a page about debt and deceased relatives. ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2026, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-has-this-federal-consumer-center-link-been-down/1029850/13 "2026-05-06T20:59:12Z")
It works fine on my phone too. Just not my home wifi. If I remember correctly, both Czarcasm and I are in Oregon? I wonder if it’s something specific to a regional network, maybe an ISP like TDS? ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2026, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-has-this-federal-consumer-center-link-been-down/1029850/14 "2026-05-06T21:24:55Z")
About an hour ago I was getting the maintenance message, but now on the same device on the same network, the page is working normally. So either the problem has been fixed, or it’s intermittent. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2026, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-has-this-federal-consumer-center-link-been-down/1029850/15 "2026-05-06T21:58:38Z")
Working for me now. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2026, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-has-this-federal-consumer-center-link-been-down/1029850/16 "2026-05-07T13:12:24Z")
I’m guessing “Big Balls” and the rest of DOGE got to it?