For the second straight year, problems with the communications industry, including telecommunications and on-line services, topped the Washington state Attorney General’s 1999 list of consumer complaints.
The AG’s Office received nearly 4,000 complaints against providers of communication services last year. The majority involved problems with the receipt of unsolicited commercial e-mail, billing and service, deceptive marketing tactics such as unauthorized switching of a long distance carrier and bills for services never ordered.
The top ten consumer complaint categories in 1999 include: (1) Communications; (2) Credit; (3) Retail Organizations; (4) Travel Sellers/Tour Operators; (5) Motor Vehicle Repair; (6) Motor Vehicle Sales; (7) Contractors; (8) Direct Mail Advertising; (9) Books and Magazine Sales; and (10) Catalog and Mail Order Houses.
Consumers received more than $11.8 million in restitution and savings from complaints and actions taken by the office. Of that total, more than $336,000 was restitution from lawsuits filed by the office and more than $5.2 million was recovered for consumers in the office’s informal mediation process.
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