Scots leading the way in f ight against bad service

FED-UP Scottish consumers made more than five million complaints last year – making them the most likely in the UK to protest.

The number of grievances lodged about products and services leapt by a whopping 38 per cent on the previous 12 months, according to a new survey.

The total was equivalent to at least one complaint for every adult in Scotland.

The figures, compiled by independent complaints mediation body Ombudsman Services, show that in 2015, 5.1million complaints were made overall – up from 3.7million the previous year.

The total refers to complaints taken to the supplier, shared on social media and/or escalated to a third party.

It seems that Scots are most proactive when it comes to taking action about poor service or products. A breakdown of the data showed Scottish consumers made an average of 1.25 complaints each last year, in comparison to 1.08 per head in the rest of Great Britain.

Just over half of Scottish consumers took action when they had a problem, up from 41 per cent last year and much higher than the British average of 43 per cent. The most common sectors for complaints were retail, energy and telecoms.

Chief ombudsman Lewis Shand Smith said: ‘Complaints increased by 1.4million from this time last year, which is testament to Scottish consumers’ growing awareness and desire to be treated fairly by big firms.

‘Despite this positive news, consumers are still ignoring millions of problems each year because they would rather suffer in silence than go through the perceived hassle of complaining – but it’s not as complex as they might think.’

The findings come as research showed thousands of Scots are being unwittingly lured into ‘subscription traps’.

People find themselves stuck in expensive recurring payment plans by online companies which do not tell them the full story when they sign up for free or discounted products and services.

A study by Citizens Advice Scotland (CAS) and Citizens Advice, focused on one of the main tools online traders use to hook people into expensive repeating payments: the continuous payment authority (CPA). Like a direct debit, it allows companies to take money from a person’s account. But a CPA differs because it has few protections and allows the company to alter the amount it takes from a bank account each time.

Worryingly, more than 80 per cent of people with CPAs do not realise they have signed up for the arrangement.

Unwitting consumers take up offers for free trials of, for example, slimming pills or skin creams. But if they do not cancel the trial within a set amount of time they automatically get transferred onto a costly payment plan.

Details of the ongoing payments can be buried deep within terms and conditions, and sellers often get hold of a customer’s card details by asking them to pay for postage and packaging.

Around 2.14million Scots have set up a CPA in the last year – but they can be extremely difficult to get out of.

The Citizens Advice report found that 81,000 Scots had been prevented from cancelling a CPA by a firm – although it is their right to do so at any time.

A further 30,000 consumers in Scotland have been stopped from cancelling by their bank.

CAS is now calling for more awareness to combat the problem. Consumer spokesman Fraser Sutherland said: ‘Many online companies are luring people into signing up for long-term subscriptions, often without even realising it. The bottom line here is that consumers who shop online must be protected from traps which deliberately take advantage of them.’

‘Consumers must be protected’