Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox Announces 2005 Top 10 Consumer Complaints

8 February 2006

To kick off National Consumer Protection Week, Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox today announced the top ten complaint categories for 2005. Identity theft continues to be a problem and identity theft complaints span all top ten complaint categories.

The complaint categories are compiled from more than 18,600 written complaints and inquiries received by the Attorney General's Consumer Protection Division. In addition to written complaints and inquiries, Cox's Consumer Protection Division fielded more than 111,000 consumer calls in 2005.

The top 10 complaint categories are as follows:

1. Credit and Financial Concerns: Includes disputes about credit reports, collections, billing and finance charges, misrepresenting the terms of credit, predatory lending, and identity theft complaints.

2. Telecommunications and Cable or Satellite TV: Includes telemarketing, do not call, cell phone, cramming (unauthorized charges), slamming (unauthorized switch of a service provider), and identity theft complaints.

3. Retail: Includes quality of merchandise, rebates, scanner or pricing errors, and identity theft complaints.

4. Gasoline/Fuel/Energy: Significant crude oil supply disruptions caused primarily by Hurricane Katrina resulted in a spike in complaints causing this category to move from number eight in 2004 to number four in 2005. This category includes allegations of businesses charging a price grossly in excess of competitors, complaints of high utility rates, billing errors, and contract misrepresentations.

5. Internet: Falling from its number three spot for the last several years, this category includes Internet purchases and auctions, failure to deliver or refund, fraudulent e-mail solicitations, Internet service provider complaints, and identity theft complaints.

6. Motor Vehicle or Automobile: Includes lemon law, advertising, warranty, quality, and misrepresentation complaints.

7. Small Business Providers: Includes complaints by small business for unauthorized services or goods, including advertising and directory publications, unsolicited faxes, and leases for business equipment that cannot be cancelled.

8. Mail Order: Includes failure to deliver merchandise, unsolicited merchandise, contest deceptions, and failure to refund complaints.

9. Contractors/Home Improvement: Includes quality of work, failure to deliver services or a refund, and warranty issues.

10. Personal Service Providers: Back into the top ten after falling out last year, this category includes failure to refund, failure to cancel a contract, and failure to deliver complaints.

In 2005, the Consumer Protection Division obtained more than $4.5 million in consumer refunds and debts forgiven. Additionally, more than $5.8 million was recovered for the State. Cox commented, "These numbers speak volumes about my ongoing commitment to Consumer Protection."

Attorney General Cox added, "Every year during National Consumer Protection week in February advocates across the country emphasize education. At my request, consumer protection staff redoubled our consumer education efforts and took a new initiative to train seniors to educate their peers. In 2005, my staff gave an unprecedented 131 consumer education seminars."

Other consumer education efforts include publishing consumer alerts. In 2005, Cox's Consumer Protection staff published 20 consumer alerts warning the public about scams like the dramatic increase in the use of counterfeit cashier's checks and the latest telemarketing tricks. The alerts are also used to encourage consumers to take proactive steps to protect themselves -- like periodically ordering a free copy of their credit report and using the report to look for any fraudulent accounts or transactions. Three alerts published on identity theft in 2005 include:

* "Free Annual Credit Reports -- What Consumers Should Know," (available at http://www.michigan.gov/ag/0,1607,7-164-34739_20942-111010--,00.html )

* "Identity Theft Information for Michigan Consumers -- 2005 Update" (available at http://www.michigan.gov/ag/0,1607,7-164-34739_20942-80479--,00.html )

* Small Businesses: Tips To Reduce ID Theft(available at http://www.michigan.gov/ag/0,1607,7-164-17278-92731--,00.html )

Consumers interested in receiving electronic mail notification of Attorney General Consumer Alerts can sign up on the Attorney General's home page (http://www.michigan.gov/ag ) by accessing the "Join the AG Mailing List" icon. Consumers may also elect to receive electronic notices of press releases and formal opinions.

Source: prnewswire

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