Second-hand cars have most complaints

More complaints were made about second-hand cars purchased from independent dealers than any other specific goods and services last year, according to the government's telephone and online advice service.

The latest figures from Consumer Direct showed that the service logged 37,594 cases about second-hand vehicles bought from independent dealers - nearly 4% of the total 963,684 cases recorded in 2006.

Complaints about mobile phone service agreements came second with 24,799 cases, while complaints about TVs came third with 18,311 cases.

Although the results were fairly consistent across the country, there were some differences. Consumer Direct said that the highest number of complaints received from callers in London concerned mobile phone service contracts, while leather furniture was the number one complaint in Scotland.

Consumer Direct said that it had taken over 1.5 million telephone calls and emails from consumers in 2006, an increase of 79% against the previous year, due in part to the opening of three new contract centres (in the North West, North East and the West Midlands) and a growing awareness of the service among the general public.

(KMcA)