Other LanguagesCall it a sign of the times. Readers of yesterday’s blog post won’t be surprised to learn that for the second consecutive year, Washington consumers filed more complaints about collection agencies than any other industry. Our Consumer Protection Division released its annual Top 20 list of consumer complaint categories today in conjunction with National Consumer Protection Week, along with statistics showing how much money its services saved the public in 2010.
Complaints about the collection industry rose 7 percent from 1,795 in 2010 to 1,671 in 2009. The industry garnered 8 percent of the 22,141 written complaints the Consumer Resource Centers handled last year.
The Federal Trade Commission also released its list of top complaints today – with identity theft theft holding onto pole position for the 11th year. Debt collection complaints came in second.
Washington Attorney General's Top 20
- Collection Agencies
- Broadband Service Providers
- Telecommunications
- Retail Sales
- Auto Sales
- Books, Magazines, Directories
- Commercial Banking
- Mortgage Lending
- Electronic Shopping
- Health Care
- Contractors
- Credit Card Issuers
- Advance-Fee Fraud
- Travel
- Consumer Lending & Transfer Agents
- Financing
- Manufactured Housing Landlord/Tenant Issues
- Auto Repair
- Insurance Agencies
- Residential Housing Landlord/Tenant Issues
Federal Trade Commission's Top 10
- Identity Theft
- Debt Collection
- Internet Services
- Prizes, Sweepstakes and (Bogus) Lotteries
- Shop-at-Home and Catalog Sales
- Imposter Scams
- Internet Auctions
- Foreign Money/Counterfeit Check Scams
- Telephone and Mobile Services
- Credit Cards