OFT research found that more than one in two of the 10,000
consumers surveyed had suffered some kind of consumer detriment in
the past year. Consumer detriment is the suffering caused to a
consumer by an organisation's unfair treatment of them.
"For every 1,000 consumers interviewed, 542 problems were
identified, and across the whole of the UK population this equates
to an estimated 26.5 million problems over the last year," said an
OFT statement. "The report concluded that the goods or services
which consumers reported the highest proportion of problems were
telecommunications, domestic fuel, and personal banking."
The OFT's study found that just 64% of the people who had had
problems with businesses took any action or complained about their
treatment. Many fewer people took their complaint through
independent channels such as the OFT.
"'Only five per cent of people in the UK report their complaint
through channels such as Trading Standards and Consumer Direct,"
said OFT chief executive John Fingleton. "This research is crucial
in improving our understanding of problems we do not always see or
hear about."
The OFT research found that consumers were most likely to
complain to internet, insurance, fuel and personal banking
companies.
The OFT found that when people do complain it is directly to
companies, largely without seeking advice from consumer bodies.
Just 24% of complainers sought information or advice before making
their case.
The research discovered that while the amount of detriment and
complaint levels varied greatly between types of products and
services, they did not vary very much according to
demographics.
Fingleton said that it was important to understand consumers'
problems and to help them understand their rights in relation to
suppliers.
"Consumer confidence in markets is important to making markets
work well and maintaining a strong and growing economy," he said."
Understanding where consumers are experiencing the most problems
and incurring the greatest losses will help us to set priorities
efficiently and focus the work of the OFT on markets that are not
working well."
