Consumers increased their complaints against businesses in 2009, with their ire mostly directed at cellphone, cable-satellite TV providers and banks, the Connecticut Better Business Bureau says.
Consumer complaints rose 9.7 percent to nearly 1 million last year from the year before, the BBB said.
Also, customers turned to BBB more than 65 million times for help researching businesses across North America, an indication consumers want to avoid troublesome firms, the organization said.
Many businesses believe that a troubled economy is responsible for the increase in consumer complaints. CT BBB finds that struggling families are relying on BBB reports to find businesses they can trust.
“Aside from the number of complaints, the number of inquiries is significant in that it reflects a growing consumer trend towards researching companies in advance to avoid problems,” said Connecticut BBB President Paulette Scarpetti.
The cell phone industry received the largest number of complaints in 2009 with 37,477, a 2.1 percent increase over last year, BBB said. The cable & satellite TV industry ranked second with 32,616 complaints, an 8.7 percent increase over the previous year. Rounding out the top three, banks received 29,920 complaints, a 42.3 percent increase over the previous year.
