Consumers’ Top 10 complaints: Guess which Is No. 1?

By Eileen Ambrose

RISMEDIA,Drum roll, please. The industry that gets the most gripes from consumers for the second year in a row: Auto.

That’s according to the annual survey by the Consumer Federation of America, National Association of Consumer Agency Administrators and the North American Consumer Protection Investigators. The ranking is based on more than 252,000 complaints lodged with regulators in 18 states.

Consumer complaints about the auto industry involve leasing, towing disputes, faulty repairs and misrepresentations in advertising or sales of new and used cars.

Here are the other top complaints from the survey:

Credit/debt — Billing and fee disputes, mortgage-related fraud, credit repair, debt relief services, predatory lending, illegal or abusive debt collection tactics.

Tied for third is Home Improvement/Construction — Shoddy work, failure to start or complete the job, and Retail Sales — False advertising and other deceptive practices, defective merchandise, problems with rebates, coupons, gift cards and gift certificates, failure to deliver.

Utilities — Service problems or billing disputes with phone, cable, satellite, Internet, electric and gas service.

Services — Misrepresentations, shoddy work, failure to have required licenses, failure to perform.

Internet Sales — Misrepresentations or other deceptive practice, failure to deliver online purchases.

Household Goods — Misrepresentations, failure to deliver, faulty repairs in connection with furniture or appliances.

Landlord/Tenant — Unhealthy or unsafe conditions, failure to make repairs or provide promised amenities, deposit and rent disputes, illegal eviction tactics.

Fraud — Bogus sweepstakes and lotteries, work-at-home schemes, and other scams.

Home Solicitations — Misrepresentations or failure to deliver in door-to-door, telemarketing or mail solicitations.

(c) 2011, The Baltimore Sun.