Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania - March 2, 2012 – Your Better Business Bureau concluded 2011 having provided nearly 800,000 instances of service to local consumers and businesses. On a national level, consumers asked BBB for help more than 103 million times in 2011, up from 87 million in 2010, and the highest rate in the organization’s 100-year history. BBB maintains Business Reviews on more than 4 million businesses and grades them based on complaint histories, responsiveness to customers, licensing, legal and government action and other factors.
“The Better Business Bureau considers the growth in services provided to consumers and businesses in 2011 to be a positive indication of increased awareness and value of our resourceful information and dispute resolution services,” says Warren King, President of the Better Business Bureau. “Although we experienced a slight drop in complaints, more people are coming to us first for information, which resulted in fewer consumers needing our dispute resolution services later.”
Requests for BBB’s Business Reviews on western Pennsylvania companies increased to over 723,000, up nearly 15% from 2010. The Construction Industry accounted for 40% of this activity followed by Automotive (10%), Home Related Services (9%), Financial Services (8%), Retail (8%), Scams (6%) and Health Services (4%). BBB Business Reviews are available 24/7 to assist consumers and businesses in their purchasing decisions at www.bbb.org.
In 2011, there were over 9,500 complaints processed against local companies through your local BBB’s conciliation, mediation and arbitration services. There were also over 9,100 complaints filed through the BBB by local consumers against businesses outside of western Pennsylvania. Overall, the Construction Industry accounted for 20% of the total complaints followed by Automotive (16%), Home Related Services (13%), Retail (12%), Financial Services (11%), Health Services (4%) and Scams (4%).
Complaints are formal procedures that consumers file against a particular business when they have a problem they cannot resolve on their own. Every complaint is examined by an investigator at the BBB and the company is given 30 days to respond. About 75% of complaints to the BBB are resolved at this level.
Top 10 Local Industries by Inquiries
Contractors – General
Roofing Contractors
Construction & Remodeling Services
Heating & Air Conditioning
Product Development & Marketing
Plumbing Contractors
Auto Dealers – New Cars
Windows
Waterproofing Contractors
Auto Repair & Service
Top 10 Local Industries by Complaints
Banks
Auto Dealers – New Cars
Contractors – General
Plumbing Contractors
Auto Dealers – Used Cars
Product Development & Marketing
Security Control Equipment & System Monitors
Auto Repair & Service
Internet Marketing Services
Television – Cable, CATV & Satellite
