Home » BBB Resolves 83% of Customers’ Complaints in 2007

BBB Resolves 83% of Customers’ Complaints in 2007

By wmadministrator

Automobile dealers have taken back the No. 1 spot as the most complained about industry in 2007 at the Better Business Bureau of Central & Eastern Kentucky, with home improvement and repair and cell phone service and equipment taking the second and third spots, respectively.

“Auto dealers have been in the top two or three slots on our top 10 list for years,” said Neil Kingery, president and CEO of the BBB of Central & Eastern Kentucky. “Some of that may have to do with customers erroneously believing certain myths about buying automobiles – for instance, many buyers believe there is a ‘lemon law’ for used cars and by law, there is not. Other times, the problems are because the customer bought from an unscrupulous car dealer.”

For the fifth year in a row, home improvement and repair services took the No.1 spot for the most inquired about industry in 2007. Kingery noted inquiries for roofing contractors was particularly high this year as a result of a hail storm that hit the Central Kentucky area in June, damaging hundreds of roofs.

“Roofers are always a popular area of inquiry at the BBB,” Kingery said, “but in 2007 we received more than 30,000 inquiries about roofing companies alone, putting them in the No. 2 spot of the top 10 inquired about industries.”

Over the course of 2007, the Better Business Bureau provided more than a half-million reliability reports and processed more than 4,100 complaints against businesses in the 64-county service area. Of the complaints, 83 percent were able to reach a resolution.

“We remind the public that it’s not necessarily a bad thing for a business to have a complaint against it,” said Kingery. “It gives a business an opportunity to fix a problem. The thing to look for is how the company handles complaints. Did the company resolve complaints, or ignore them entirely? That can give the consumer an idea as to how they might be treated by the company if they do business with it. “