Consumers complain more

RESIDENTS of the Balearic Islands lodged 7'367 official complaints with the Consumer Affairs department last year, 19.7 percent more than in 2009, the regional government confirmed yesterday.

However, the Consumer Affairs ministry also pointed out that the rate at which complaints are being received has slowed down in comparison to the year from 2008 to 2009 when they shot up by 30 percent.

The figures have emerged from the Consumer department's report for 2010, in which it was revealed that telephone communications and internet provider services are the areas which have received the largest and most wide-ranging number of complaints from the public, 32.8 percent of the total and 10 percent more than the previous year.

Telephone and internet were followed in terms of numbers of complaints by the air travel sector, 20.3 percent of the total number of registered complaints, 12 percent more than in 2009. Following at a considerable distance in terms of public dissatisfaction are maritime transport, car hire and the holiday industry.

Complaints over electricity supply have disappeared from the top ranking spots and now sit at sixth place on the list. This, said the Consumer department yesterday, is largely due to the fact that national power supply was commercialised in 2009.

The department said that more people had gone in person to their offices in the Balearics to try and solve complaints, but significantly less had contacted them by telephone or by internet. The Balearic government claimed that by whatever means, the Consumer Affairs department had handled 13'256 queries last year. It said that although the 1'252 cases which went to arbitration last year were less than in 2009, the volume was still 45 percent more than in 2007.