Consumer complaints are a good indication whether a company should be trusted or not. Whether it’s shoddy workmanship or aggressive sales tactics, there’s plenty of companies that have left a lot to be desired this year. But which industries are the worst for complaints? And what are some of the stories that have been revealed about poor customer experiences this year?
Top 10 consumer complaints 2019
- Cars – Once again cars and automobiles top the list. There are several complaints ranging from “bait and switch” sales tactics to being sold cars that are not worthy for the road. Further complaints include, unfair lease agreements, poor repair and servicing work, and new cars being delivered with the wrong specification.
- Home Improvement/Construction – Next on the list is home improvement or construction contractors. These companies always rank highly because of the harm they cause. People often lose large amounts of money, or are left with a home that’s not safe to live in. Common complaints include contractors not showing up after taking a deposit, poor workmanship resulting in an unsafe building, non-conformity to building regulations and pressure tactics.
- Retail – Everybody has to use retailers to buy everyday essentials, so it’s no surprise to see them so high up the list. The complaints mainly revolve around defective goods but there are also plenty of rightful grievances surrounding a failure to deliver items (particularly for online retailers), poor customer service, false advertising, and problems redeeming gift cards and vouchers.
- Credit and Debt Services – The majority of the adult population has a credit card, and a great deal of those also have long standing debts such as a mortgage. The complaints in this industry often surround deceptive interest rates, billing and fee disputes, mortgage adjustments and fraud, loan shark practices, and questionable debt collection tactics.
- Landlord/Tenant Issues – With an increasing number of individuals unable to afford to own their own home, the number of complaints from tenants about their landlords is increasing. Unsafe, unsanitary and illegal living conditions are the big drivers behind the increase in complaints. Other issues such as failure to fix fundamental items, refusal to hand back deposits, and illegal tactics to evict tenants all feature in this category
- Services – When you don’t receive the level of service you expect from a firm; the natural inclination is to file a complaint. Since this is a broad category, complaints range from misrepresentation, failure to have the correct licenses, and receiving a poor standard of work.
- Communications – Many feel life simply wouldn’t be worth living without the internet or a mobile phone, and so when something goes wrong, customers become irate. Chief amongst the complaints for this industry are misleading offers for mobile phone contracts, poor installation services for cable, phone, and internet services, reception problems, and billing disputes with providers.
- Health Products/Services – This industry is rife with fraudsters who claim to have tablets that can miraculously help you lose weight, or take 20 years off your age. Therefore, it’s no surprise that the leading complaint from this industry is misleading claims about the efficacy of products. Second on the list is unlicensed professionals who claim that they are, and failure to deliver products or services.
- Household Goods – Arguably a sub-section of retail, household goods have been singled out in particular for issues with misrepresentation and defective products. Another common complaint was problems with repair work to both furniture and household appliances which left them unusable.
- Home Solicitations, Internet Sales, Travel (Tied 10th) – These three separate categories were tied for 10th place on the list of most common complaints. Customers complained about predatory and aggressive sales tactics, as well as billing disputes with travel companies.
First-hand accounts of terrible customer experiences
We have received A LOT of complaints about companies in almost every industry over the last year. Below is just a selection of some of our complainants stories regarding the the shocking levels of service they received.
Dangerously unsanitary hotel room not refunded
“Our hotel room was absolutely filthy! The first thing we saw when we opened our door was a bunch of roaches. The whole room smelled like urine. There was a syringe in the trash can, cigarette burns everywhere, holes in the walls and bathroom door. When we went to the front desk, the lady working the 3rd shift was rude and refused to give us a refund other than $5 out of the $65 that we had paid; wouldn’t give us any other information to help us get in touch with the manager or anything. I would NEVER recommend this disgusting motel to my worst enemy!”
Holiday ruined and left with scars for life after using unsafe beauty product
“I have used the ‘body curv’ sensitive removal cream from Veet before with no worries at all. A week ago I was preparing for my holiday and I could feel it literally burning through my skin (my bikini line) for 2 days I was in agony to the point where I had to be taken to hospital where I could barely walk because I was in so much pain. They told me there it had burnt through 2 layers of my skin and now I’m going to be left with a massive scar. This is absolutely ridiculous and completely ruined my holiday because I’ve been in constant pain.”
Half-finished windows installed by a national retailer
“I had my windows installed several weeks ago and I have no idea when Home Depot is going to come and complete the work. Every time I try to call Home Services number I am put on hold for more than 45 minutes and I can never get through. Originally I was thinking of having someone else install my windows, now I’m starting to regret my choice.”
Continued no-shows for a customer has left them without a functioning boiler
“We get insurance cover for our central heating boiler from Halifax bank. Halifax booked their repairs with APS (Action Property Service) about month ago. We have also booked (with APS) about four appointments and not one time has an engineer turned up to fix problem. I can’t believe how bad that is from APS! Once again I am sitting in at home waiting for the fifth time and it’s looking like no-one will turn up today either…”
85% of a packet of household goods were defective and unusable
“I always wash with Tide. I’ve never had a problem with my Tide packs. This time when I opened the container, I was able to use about 10 pods that were loose (as they should be). However, after those first 10 pods, the rest of them were stuck together and could not be separated without bursting them. I’ve always kept the lid on them, so no moisture could have got inside the container.”
Don’t allow companies to get away it
The examples above are just one of hundreds of customer complaints we’ve received over the course of 2019 so far, where customers have rightfully had a grievance.
Whether it’s poor service, faulty goods, aggressive selling or failure to deliver what was promised, raising a complaint is one of the best ways to see that your issues are resolved in a satisfactory manner.
We specialize in not only providing a database of complaints so that you can carry out your own research on a company, but we also help you to get the attention your complaint deserves.
If you think that you’ve been wronged by a company, then don’t be afraid to get the ball rolling by filing your own complaint on our website using the button below.
