Consumers "get the wrong end of the bargain"

Chinese consumers lodged about 740,000 complaints last year, of which 520,000 were about products and the rest about services, according to a recent report by the State Administration for Industry and Commerce.

Digital products:

The numbers of complaints about cameras and video cameras were 3,096 and 1,247, a rise of 51.76 percent and 40.43 percent year on year.

High-end digital products such as LCD and PDP TV sets, and digital cameras drew the most complaints.

Consumers often found it difficult to return sub-standard products; and some of the advertisements were exaggerated.

Interior materials and furniture:

There were 13,258 complaints about interior materials, and 12,983 about furniture.

The main problems included low quality of wooden floors and glazed tiles, shoddy furniture sold at high prices, and misleading concepts of new technology.

Nutritional food:

About 5,047 complaints were about nutritional or health food.

The problems included exaggeration of benefits in advertisements featuring celebrities and promotions disguised as free physical check-ups.

Light electric vehicles:

Light electric vehicles bikes powered by electricity also drew many complaints. They centered on poor-quality storage batteries and brakes, and a lack of after-sales services.

Telecom service:

There were 49,414 complaints about telecom services, of which those about mobile telecom services topped the list.

Consumers complained about telecom operators' unilateral action on various kinds of short message services, fraudulent and pornographic text messages, and inaccurate telephone bills.

Catering industry:

There were 17,362 complaints about the catering industry, second highest on the services list. They were mainly about restaurants setting minimum consumption bills, forbidding consumers from bringing beverages or charging high corkage.

Tourism:

There were 3,712 complaints about tourism services, an increase of 63.31 percent year on year.

Some travel agencies were blamed for forcing customers to sign contracts to avoid or reduce liability, changing travel routes and increasing shopping time.

( People's Daily contributed to the story )

Editor:Du Xiaodan