BBB Saw Huge Jump in Consumers Inquiries; Complaints Rose Slightly

Consumersavvy, smart shopping and common sense all had a great year, according to the Better Business Bureau. Consumers asked BBB for helpmore than 103 million times in 2011, up from 87 million in 2010 and the highestrate in the organization’s 100-year history. Filings of formal complaintsagainst businesses rose slightly for the Upstate New York region at 15,609 in2011 up slightly from 14,416 in 2010. Across the U.S.and Canadacomplaints were down from 927,000 in 2011 compared to just over one million in2010.

“This is the consumer action we want to see,” said David Polino, BetterBusiness Bureau President. “When consumers come to us first for informationabout businesses, they are much less likely to need our dispute resolutionservices later.”

BBB maintains BusinessReviews on morethan 4 million businesses and grades them based on complaint histories,responsiveness to customers, licensing, legal and government action, and otherfactors. 6,000 are Accredited Businesses in Upstate New York that meet the BBBAccreditation Standards and are permitted to display the BBB logo in their advertising andplace of business while our organization monitors another 42,000 businesses whoare not currently affiliated with the BBB. Nationally there are 400,000 AccreditedBusinesses.

“The sharpincrease of pre-purchase inquires by consumers is a glowing endorsement for theproduct BBB offers for today’s savvy shoppers. Business reviews they can trustat the time of purchase for many big-ticket items,” added Polino. “Consumers tendto do more research when they’re about to spend a lot of money on their home orfor their car and we’re pleased they are doing their research here.”

2011 Upstate New York Inquiries:

1 Inquiry rank is out of 4,790industry categories

Complaintsare formal procedures that consumers file against a particular business whenthey have a problem they cannot resolve on their own. Every complaint isexamined by an investigator at the regional BBB where the business is located,and the company is given 30 days to respond. About 95% of complaints to BBBsare resolved at this level; the rest go to mediation or arbitration. BBB hastrained mediators and arbitrators in every state and province in North America.

2011 Upstate New York Complaints totaled 15,609 in 2011 up from 14,416in 2010:

“Ourcomplaint results are consistent with goods and services most of us useregularly,” said Polino.

Nationallysome industries saw big improvements for complaints over the past year.Complaints about health and medical products fell 61%, vitamins and foodsupplements fell 49%, satellite equipment and supplies fell 46%, vacationcertificates and vouchers fell 45%, complaints about small business loans weredown 38%, extended warranty contract service companies down 38%, buying clubsdown 35%, loans were down 35%, complaints about mortgage brokers fell 31%, andbanks fell 30%.*

Therewere quite a few industries with big increases in complaints, but one industrystood out more than any other: payday loan companies had 159% more complaintsthan in 2010. Other industries with an increase in complaints: book publishersrose 72%; cellular telephone equipment/supplies up 64%, and telephone companiesup 64%; electronic equipment repair and service rose 54%; florists complaintsrose 52%; travel clubs were up 48%; general merchandise retail increased 46%;insurance services rose 43%; and skin care rose 41%.*

* The most improved/declined industries were thosewith the highest percentage changes in complaints from 2010 to 2011 for thoseindustries with at least 1,000 complaints in 2011. All of those noted are inthe top 200 industry categories that BBB tracks.

For more information about BBB National inquires and complaints, click here.