CONSUMER BRIEFS / COMPLAINTS
Times Staff and Wire Reports
Customers buying or servicing cars and cellphones filed the most complaints in 2008, according to the Better Business Bureau.
The cellphone industry had 36,710 complaints against it, and new-car dealers came in second, with 27,555 complaints, said bureau spokeswoman Alison Southwick. That was a 9% jump in complaints for both groups, compared with 2007. Third place on the consumer-complaint list went to the banking industry, which received 21,021 complaints in 2008, a 15% increase.
Overall, customer complaints to the bureau rose 7% last year to 4 million, Southwick said. Complaints filed to the organization were resolved about 73% of the time.
