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Same types of companies dot annual BBB list
REPUBLICAN-AMERICAN STAFF
The Top 10 in 2010
Here’s a look at the top 10 business types consumers complained about to the Better Business Bureau last year, and the top 10 business types consumers inquired about on the BBB website:
Complaints Inquiries
Rank Business type Rank Business type
1. Buying clubs/Group purchasing services 1. Home improvements
2. Internet shopping 2. Oils-fuel
3. Furniture-retail 3. Roofing contractors
4. Insurance companies 4. Auto dealers-used
5. Auto dealers-used 5. Auto dealers-new
6. Mailing services 6. Heating air conditioning
7. Magazine sales 7. Landscape contractors
8. Auto dealers-new 8. Movers
9. Burglar alarm systems-dealers monitoring 9. Plumbing contractors
10. Market research analysis 10. Buying clubs/Group purchasing services
Source: Better Business Bureau
The same types businesses that most irked Connecticut consumers in 2009 continued to prompt complaints last year later, according to the Connecticut Better Business Bureau.
The BBB’s list of the top 10 businesses that generated the most complaints in 2010 was topped by the same two businesses a year earlier: buying clubs/group purchasing services and Internet shopping, the consumer organization said.
Rounding out the top five were retail furniture stores, which moved up from fifth a year earlier to third; insurance companies, which jumped from seventh to fourth, and new car dealers, which leaped from 10th to fifth.
“The statistics show a clear trend among consumers in Connecticut over the past several years,” said Paulette Scarpetti, president of the Connecticut BBB. “Though there may be some shuffling in the order of the list, most of the types of businesses remain on the list from one year to the next.”
In fact, of the 10 types of businesses listed in the 2010 list. eight were among the top 10 a year earlier. Burglar alarm systems dealers and monitoring and market research and analysis entered the list last year, while book publishers and fulfillment services dropped out after being the in the list the pervious year.
In addition, the BBB said that despite the number of complaints against companies in the categories in the 2010 top 10 list, 90 percent of these business types had a complaint settlement rate of between 82 percent and 99 percent.
The BBB also collects data on the number of times consumers visit its website, www.bbb.org, to inquire about a business before signing a contract or making a purchase. According to the organization, the data reveal significant differences in the businesses consumers research and the ones they complain about.
In both 2009 and 2010, the No. 1 business type consumers inquired about was home improvements, which didn’t make the top 10 in complaints in either 2010 or 2009. The same is true for the No. 2 type of business inquired about in 2010, oils-fuel.
The BBB reminds consumers that many common problems can be prevented by visiting its website to research a business. Helpful consumer tips also are available at www.ct.bbb.org/consumers.
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