THE Office of Consumer Affairs has seen a 21 per cent decrease in complaints to the department during the first half of 2008 as compared to the same reporting period last year.

With a new public information initiative, the department will be releasing quarterly statistics to keep consumers informed about the nature of the complaints filed, current trends and successful resolutions.

According to statistics, consumers filed 154 complaints in the first quarter of 2008 and 109 in the second quarter, down from 162 and 172 complaints filed in the first and second quarters of 2007, respectively.

The retail industry tops the list with the most complaints reported receiving 58 complaints over the first two quarters, followed closely by the automotive industry, which collected 46 complaints reporter over the same period.

Service providers, cycle services and the telecommunications industry also topped the list with 30, 25 and 22 complaints.

According to Consumer Affairs the main reasons for complaints in the automotive and cycle industries stemmed from "repairs, timeliness, cost and service". The retail industry was cited for dissatisfaction with refund/return policies of faulty or defective consumer goods and the telecommunications and service provider industry had poor overall customer service or "lack of".

Within the two quarters a total of 204 cases were successfully resolved and the rest of the cases were referred to another authority, referred to the court system or abandoned by the consumer.

The department cites the following reasons for the decrease in the number of complaints:

- Consumers are becoming better educated about their rights and becoming more responsible when exercising their rights

- Consumers are more confident resolving their complaints

- Businesses are also exercising responsibility to their customers by calling Consumer Affairs for advice in resolving customer complaints

For more information on the initiative, Consumer Affairs directs people to visit www.ca.gov.bm.