What's Your Beef? BBB Says More Folks Irked In 2010
SOUTHFIELD (WWJ) - According to an annual report released Friday by the Better Business Bureau, consumers filed 1.1 million complaints against North American businesses in 2010, reflecting a ten percent increase over the previous year. Consumers also turned to the non-profit more than 87 million times for help researching businesses across North America, a whopping 37 percent more than in 2009.
"The complaints filed with BBB are not only a barometer of customer satisfaction, but the rise in complaints also shows that consumers are increasingly relying on BBB for assistance in resolving disputes with businesses," said Melanie Duquesnel, President and CEO of the Better Business Bureaus Serving Eastern Michigan and the Upper Peninsula.
The cable and satellite TV industry received the largest number of complaints with 30,985, a 5 percent decrease over last year. The cell phone industry ranked second with 27,293 complaints but saw a 29.6 percent decrease over 2009. Rounding out the top three, new car auto dealers received 24,698 complaints, an 8.1 percent decrease over the previous year.
While the cable and satellite TV industry, cell phone industry and new car dealers received a high volume of complaints, the BBB report shows that they also have a higher rate of resolution with consumers than the average rate (78 percent) across all industries in 2010. Cable and satellite TV resolved 98.6 percent of complaints, a slight increase from 2009; the cell phone industry resolved 92.1 percent; while new car dealer companies resolved 87.4 percent of all complaints.
"Industries that do a large volume of business are naturally going to have a larger number of complaints. This is why it's important to look at how a company responded when BBB approached them with consumer complaints, and not just the sheer number of complaints," added Ms. Duquesnel.
The report also reveals that the 3 million BBB Business Reviews are increasingly popular as a free tool for consumers to research the trustworthiness of businesses. BBB Business Reviews—which contain information on a businesses' accreditation status, letter-grade rating and complaint history—were accessed more than 87 million times in 2010. The most popular industries researched with BBB are roofing contractors, general contractors and mortgage brokers.
"The services and tools that BBB supplies free of charge at bbb.org are now of more value than ever before to consumers," added Ms. Duquesnel. "Given the current economic climate, consumers need to be more cautious on where and how they spend their money and a fast, easy way to do this is to ensure businesses are accredited by BBB and have a good BBB rating before doing business with them."
Following are the top 10 industries by volume of consumer complaints filed across North America with BBB in 2010:
- Industry
Total Complaints
Rank by number of complaints 1
Percentage Increase over 2009
Percentage of Resolved Complaints 2
- Television - Cable, CATV & Satellite
30,985
1
-5.0%
98.6%
- Cellular Phones Services & Equipment
27,293
2
-29.6%
92.1%
- Auto Dealers-New Cars
24,698
3
-8.1%
87.4%
- Banks
22,648
4
-24.3%
98.5%
- Collection Agencies
15,876
5
.5%
80.2%
- Auto Dealers - Used Cars
14,520
6
6.1%
70.6%
- Auto Repair & Service
13,178
7
3.5%
65.6%
- Furniture - Retail
13,018
8
-1.1%
79.1%
- Internet Shopping
12,950
9
-39.8%
61.4%
- Mortgage Brokers
9,545
10
17.8%
81.0%
1 Complaint rank is out 4,483 industries categories
2 Average resolution rate across all industries for 2010 was 78 percent
For a complete industry breakdown of all complaints filed with the BBB in 2010 go to www.us.bbb.org/statistics. To learn more about BBB dispute resolution services and BBB Business Reviews, call (248) 799-0326.
