WASHINGTON–The Top 10 complaints made by consumers during 2017 have been tallied up, and not surprisingly, financial issues are woven throughout the list.
Consumer watchdogs said they have also uncovered a fraud trend that credit unions might want to warn members about.
The latest report on consumer complaints is based on the annual survey of state and local consumer agencies conducted by Consumer Federation of America (CFA). Forty agencies from 23 states participated in the survey, which asked about the most common complaints, the fastest-growing complaints, and the worst complaints received in 2017.
In addition, the report identified new kinds of consumer problems, agencies’ greatest achievements, and new laws enacted in the agencies’ jurisdictions last year to protect consumers, the CFA said.
According to the CFA, the list below represents the complaints most frequently cited as the top problems reported to state and local consumer agencies last year. A new category, Communications, was created this year for complaints about telephone and internet services. Formerly, those complaints were included in Utilities.
The Top 10 are:
* 1: Auto: Misrepresentations in advertising or sales of new and used cars, lemons, faulty repairs, auto leasing, and towing disputes.
* 2. Home Improvement/Construction: Shoddy work, failure to start or complete the job.
* 3. Retail Sales: False advertising and other deceptive practices, defective merchandise, problems with rebates, coupons, gift cards and gift certificates, failure to deliver.
* 4. Credit/Debt: Billing and fee disputes, mortgage modifications and mortgage-related fraud, credit repair, debt relief services, predatory lending, illegal or abusive debt collection tactics.
* 5. Landlord/Tenant: Unhealthy or unsafe conditions, failure to make repairs or provide promised amenities, deposit and rent disputes, illegal eviction tactics
* 6. Services: Misrepresentations, shoddy work, failure to have required licenses, failure to perform.
* 7. Communications: Misleading offers, installation issues, service problems, billing disputes with phone and internet services.
* 8, Health Products/Services: Misleading claims, unlicensed practitioners, failure to deliver, medical billing issues.
* 9. Household Goods: Misrepresentations, failure to deliver, defective merchandise, faulty repairs, in connection with furniture or appliances.
* 10. (Three-Way Tie) Home Solicitations: Misrepresentations, abusive sales practices, and failure to deliver in door-to-door, telemarketing or mail solicitations, do-not-call violations
- * Internet Sales: Misrepresentations or other deceptive practices, failure to deliver online purchases
- * Travel: Misrepresentations, failure to deliver, cancellation and billing disputes.
A New Threat
In 2017, the Consumer Federation flagged sales of solar equipment as a fraud/problem to watch, but noted that this year “the good news is some states have now passed laws requiring specific disclosures for solar sales.”
What has emerged as an area of “particular concern” in 2018, the CFA said, is sales of alarm systems.
“These complaints involve the use of misleading solicitations and scare tactics. In one case, a company sent a letter that looked like it came from the county government to new homeowners warning that their neighborhoods were unsafe because of ‘the opioid crisis’ and offering ‘free’ alarm systems as part of a county-wide program,” the CFA reported.
Other “alarming” practices that agencies described included false claims that police officers in the area had purchased the same alarm systems, failure to give consumers the opportunity to review their contracts, failure to provide them with copies of the agreements or notify them of their cancelation rights, and locking consumers into long-term, automatically renewing contracts.
For the full 2017 Consumer Complaint Survey Report go here.