Bill Schuette published his top 10 consumer complaint items.. We have completed each item to be sure that ALL offenders are identified properly.
The attorney General says:
“Consumer protection isn’t just one program,” said Schuette. “It’s a philosophy that guides everything we do. We emphasize safe social media use for students and fight to protect seniors from scams and fraud. We also defend consumers by exposing insurance fraud and price fixing, guarding against bogus charities, and prosecuting home foreclosure scams.”
Top 10 Consumer Complaint Categories of 2014 with our additions.
- Credit and Financial Concerns: The top complaint category for 2014 held on to the spot that it has had since 2006 generating almost 1,700 complaints in a variety of areas including debt collection, credit repair, payday lending, and mortgage brokering.
- The government has forced lenders to engage in loans with zero probability to pay back. Add to this, the vultures like David Trott who take advantage of those caught in the middle.
- Gasoline, Fuel, and Energy: Rising all the way from number 8 in 2013, propane complaints dominated this category last year. In 2014, Attorney General Schuette secured agreements with two companies relating to their propane prices and helped more than 6,200 customers obtain more than $600,000 in relief.
- Michigan has set itself up for a major energy crisis which will exacerbate the problem. When we are 1.3 Gigawatts short of necessary electric production, the ‘gouging’ will seem like good times.
- Telecommunications, Cable, and Satellite TV: Maintaining the third spot from the previous year, this category includes complaints involving issues like robocalls, telemarketing, and cable and satellite TV services. These categories made up almost 1,000 of the complaints in 2014.
- Look at every single person in office today. How many of them were responsible for the endless hours of robo-calls and stepped on cats trying to get to the phone?
- Then look at the elimination of landline phone requirements. A deal made for the benefit of, and brokered away for ATT’s sole benefit.
- Retail: This category also ranked fourth for the second year in a row includes complaints about merchandise quality, warranty, and pricing disputes.
- Sales tax increase on the way. CHECK.
- Motor Vehicle and Automobiles: Rising back to number 5, disputes with used car dealers, automotive repair service complaints, and lemon law violations are included in this category.
- Licensing fees and lost deductions on the way. CHECK.
- Personal Service Providers: Falling back to number 6, complaints in this category range from dating services and beauty shops to home security and health and fitness organizations.
- Come up with your own for this one. It really isn’t that hard.
- Internet: Complaints in this computer-based category numbered more than 600. Included are issues with internet service providers, online auction disputes, and fraudulent e-mail solicitations.
- Legislature adding regulations and additional costs and job killing bureaucracy. CHECK.
- Landlord and Tenant: Rising one spot to number 8 in 2014, this category made up nearly 500 complaints. A majority of the complaints in this category involved apartment owners and managers.
- Just wait till the bizarro world Elliot Larsen makes a comeback. This one’s gonna be a dooooooozy.
- Health Service Providers: Also rising one spot from 2013, this category involves complaints about different health service providers like doctors, dentists, and hospitals.
- Loss of insurance, expensive premiums and high deductibles thanks to government helping us out. Please. Send a regular scammer or crook. It will hurt less.
- Contractors: Absent from last year’s list and rounding out the top ten are complaints about landscaping services, special trade contractors, and residential building construction services.
- Why, isn’t the whole zoning/enabling cluster-foxtrot an absolute joy in YOUR community? Who cares about the contractors if you cannot afford to live anywhere?
