The Consumer Federation of America (CFA) and the North American Consumer Protection Investigators talked to state and local agencies to find out the biggest issues, with the participating 33 agencies and 21 states logging over 200,000 complaints last year.
The top three complaints were over auto sales and services, followed by home improvement and construction and utilities, with credit and debt landing at four. Among the fastest growing complaints are ones about phony scams, like fake IRS agents, tax ID theft and energy services, which are also reported to be the worst types of complaints.
Top Ten Complaints of 2015
1. Auto –False advertising or sales, lemons, faulty repairs, leasing and towing disputes
2. Home Improvement/Construction – Poor work, failure to start or complete the job
3. Utilities – Service problems or billing disputes
4. Credit/Debt – Billing and fee disputes, credit repair, illegal or abusive debt collection tactics and more
5. Retail Sales – False advertising, defective merchandise, rebates, coupons, gift cards and gift certificates problems
6. Services – Shoddy work, failure to have required licenses or to perform
7. Landlord/Tenant – Unsafe conditions, deposit and rent disputes, illegal eviction tactics
8. Household Goods – Bad merchandise or repairs, and failure to deliver
9. Health Products/Services – Misleading claims, unlicensed practitioners
10. (Tie) Internet Sales – Misrepresentations or other deceptive practices, failure to deliver
10. Fraud – Phony sweepstakes and lotteries, work-at-home and other schemes
Source: USA Today