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Motor vehicles and home improvements ripoffs top the list

The state Division of Consumer Affairs received nearly 14,000 complaints from consumers last year, and the high-cost categories of motor vehicles and home improvements each generating more than 10 percent of the total complaints.

New Jerseyans filed 1,805 complaints related to motor vehicles and 1,401 complaints about home improvements. Complaints about fuel used for home heating broke into the Top 10 last year while health clubs dropped out of the annual list.

The remaining top complaints categories are:

(3) Loans - 1,250

(4) Internet sales/goods - 650

(5) Professional/occupational service - 577

(6) Home heating fuel - 460

(7) Banks/financial institutions - 451

(8) Debt collection - 418

(9) Telecommunications - 369

(10)(tied) Cable TV/subscriptions - 276; Home furnishings - 276

"Consumer complaints help our investigators identify potential problem areas and emerging fraud trends,” state Attorney General Paula T. Dow said Monday. “It's vitally important for consumers to file complaints with the Division of Consumer Affairs and I encourage them to do so."

The Division of Consumer Affairs announced the Top 10 list as part of the start of National Consumer Protection Week.

"This list, and the nearly 14,000 complaints received by the Division last year, highlight our enforcement priorities and the continuing need for strong consumer education programs," state Acting Consumer Affairs Thomas R. Calcagni said. "Taking part in National Consumer Protection Week provides another opportunity to demonstrate how we're taking on these challenges and empowering New Jersey's consumers."

The increase in home heating fuel complaints came as the Division of Consumer Affairs filed suit last March against a Morris County-based oil company for failure to fulfill contracts and to make deliveries to customers.

Health club complaints, which ranked fifth in overall complaints in 2008, failed to make the Top 10 list in 2009 and again in 2010. The Division of Consumer Affairs reached settlements with more than a dozen health club owners in 2009 and 2010 after investigators conducted enforcement actions. The settlements require facility owners to comply with the state's Health Club Provisions and Health Club Regulations.

More information designed to help consumers protect themselves is offered free of charge at the Division of Consumer Affairs NCPW website at www.njconsumeraffairs.gov.

Consumers who believe they have been cheated or scammed by a business, or suspect any other form of consumer abuse, can file a complaint with the Division of Consumer Affairs by visiting its website, www.NJConsumerAffairs.gov, or by calling 1-800-242-5846 (toll free within New Jersey) or 973-504-6200.

— TOM HESTER SR., NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM