Consumers last year beefed more about automobile issues — buying new and used cars among them — than any other issue, according to a new survey by a national consumer advocacy group.
The Consumer Federation of America found consumers griped most in 2008 about problems they had with auto-related topics ranging from misrepresentations made to them in advertisements for new and used cars to disputes over lease terms and towing contracts.
Tim Jackson, president of the Colorado Automobile Dealers Association, said that might be because consumers are often unfamiliar with the process. “It’s a big-ticket item, and an area of purchase that most people don’t go through very often, so there may be misapprehensions,” he said.
Next in line among the top complaints nationally were issues consumers had about home-improvement and construction projects, according to the CFA survey of 34 state, county and city consumer agencies spanning 19 states.
The survey also was conducted by the National Association of Consumer Agency Administrators and the North American Consumer Protection Investigators.
The types of problems, overall, span a number of categories, the CFA said.
“The complaints run the gamut from sleazy auto sales to shoddy home-improvement work, bare-knuckle debt-collection tactics to bogus health products and services, fraud on the Internet to gouging at the gas pump,” the report said.
Not in the top 10, and new to the survey list, were complaints about telemarketers pestering consumers via cellphone text messages.
Though Colorado was not among the agencies surveyed, the top consumer complaints filed with the Better Business Bureau of Denver/Boulder and the state attorney general’s office were about issues with cable and satellite-television services.
There were 7,555 complaints about that industry in 2008, but that includes consumer gripes that were funneled to Colorado because the companies were headquartered here, and complaints about a company that were filed in Colorado but immediately transferred to the city that the company was headquartered in.
James Alfieri, a resident of Smethport, Pa., said he filed a complaint against Douglas County-based Dish Network in January because he was billed higher prices than he was quoted.
“What really angered me was the unauthorized $200 charge. And every time I called, I’d get a different person, and they wouldn’t know anything about my case,” the 47-year-old Alfieri said. The issue remains unresolved, he said.
However, Dish Network spokeswoman Kathie Gonzalez said the company has received fewer complaints about its service than anyone else in the pay-TV business.
“We work tirelessly to resolve any concerns our subscribers may have,” Gonzalez said.
Sara Castellanos: 303-954-1381 or scastellanos@denverpost.com
