KUALA LUMPUR, June 24:

The National Consumer Complaints Centre (NCCC) had received 40,560 complaints for 2013, a slight improvement  from the 41,963 received the year before.

NCCC chairman N. Marimuthu said the numbers were derived from more than 20 different industries resulting from their purchase of goods/services.

“This year, the most complaints came from the General Consumer Products as opposed to the Telecommunications Sector that topped the list last year.

“In terms of monetary value, complaints related to the automobile sector topped the charts once again, raking in RM22,182,476.30 which is a dramatic increase from last year’s total of RM9,544,831.80,” he said at the 8th Complainfest 2014 held at Cititel Hotel.

He said there was a massive increase in the number of complaints pertaining to general consumer products.
“It topped the number of complaints received by NCCC for 2013.

“This is due to the fact that products like TVs, computers, cellphones, tablets, laptops and similar products have been made accessible to consumers at a very reasonable price attached to them.

“There was an increase of sales and usage of these products but the quality remains highly questionable.

“The question is, are all producers compromising on quality just to lower the prices on products and cutting cost?

He said most complaints for this category involved quality, product safety, late delivery of products, misinterpretation at the point of sale, extremely disappointing after sales service and warranty claims.

Marimuthu said following  the release of the NCCC 2013 Annual Report, he hoped manufacturers and service providers would take note of recommendations and suggestions given.

“In the spirit of ‘a complaint is a gift’, if viewed the right way it can help capitalise on market retention  and expansion,” he added.

an article by The Rakyat Post