Unwanted calls top list of Florida’s consumer complaints

FORT MYERS, Fla. – Getting a lot of phone calls you don’t want? You’re not alone.

The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services released the top 10 most frequent consumer complaints filed with the department in 2016 on Thursday. Violations of the state’s “Do Not Call” list were the most common complaint this year, followed by complaints related to fuel and gasoline, cable services and motor vehicle repair.

The department recovered $2,965,000 for Florida consumers in 2016.

In 2016, the department received 38,470 complaints and responded to 186,526 calls, 11,627 emails and 13,782 online chats from consumers. The top 10 complaints were:

1. Do Not Call –17,177
2. Fuel/Petroleum – 1,763
3. Communications – 1,644
4. Landlord/Tenant – 1,536
5. Motor Vehicle Repair – 1,447
6. Cable – 1,313
7. Medical – 1,281
8. Motor Vehicle/Sales Accessories – 1,196
9. Other/Miscellaneous – 1,001
10. Travel/Vacation Plans – 943

“We are dedicated to protecting Florida’s consumers, and I’m proud that we recovered nearly $3 million for Floridians this year,” Agriculture Commissioner Adam H. Putnam said. “Anyone can call our 1-800-HELP-FLA consumer hotline or visit FreshfromFlorida.com to file a complaint, find information about businesses and learn how to protect themselves from fraud and scams.”