Last Updated on January 27, 2022 1:59 pm
Better Business Bureau of Southern Piedmont and Western North Carolina released its 2021 annual report, detailing consumer activity related to businesses located in the BBB’s 37-county service area.
This report includes statistics on consumer complaints, verified customer reviews and the top five types of businesses that generated the most complaints.
Consumer Complaints
In 2021, consumers filed nearly 23,000 complaints against area businesses, showing a slight increase from 2020.
“Over the last year we’ve made great modifications and enhancements to our systems, including our online complaint form. The form has been improved to truly understand the desired outcome of a situation presented by a consumer. This has led to consumers being able to more easily differentiate between a complaint and a customer review, resulting in minimal complaint growth year over year and substantial customer review growth year over year, as you’ll see in the next section,” said BBB of Southern Piedmont and Western North Carolina President, Tom Bartholomy.
In spite of the large number of complaints filed, the BBB was still able to resolve 92% of all complaints submitted.
Verified Customer Reviews
In 2021, customers submitted more than 19,000 verified reviews about businesses, showing a 30% increase from 2020.
“Customer reviews grew drastically in 2021,” said Bartholomy. “Potential customers always want to know what third parties say about a business they're considering working with, and the BBB is a great resource for that. We are thrilled to see customers continuing to take advantage of this outlet by sharing positive or negative feedback about their experience with a business.”
Top Complaint Generators
2021:
- New Car Dealers
- Used Car Dealers
- Auto Service
- Collection Agencies
- Property Management
2020:
- Banks
- Home Improvement
- Gun Dealers
- Auto Repair
- Auto Dealers – New
Consumers can visit www.bbb.org to check out a business, file a complaint or leave a review.
