cIndividuals filed extra complaints with shopper safety businesses about shopping for, leasing, and repairing automobiles than some other transaction. Individuals have been extra pissed off with automotive sellers and repair facilities than with house enchancment contractors, landlords, and even robocall scams.

This isn’t information. That is the seventh straight yr that automotive transactions have led the Shopper Federation of America’s annual itemizing of complaints.

The federation doesn’t deal with complaints itself. It’s a coalition of teams that do. They embody nationwide teams (like Customers Union), statewide shopper advocacy organizations, and watchdogs that police industries from funeral providers to insurance coverage.

The federation tracks member businesses’ complaints and collates them into an annual Shopper Grievance Survey Report.

Junk Charges, Bait-and-Change Pricing, and Extra

This yr “customers filed complaints about add-on services and products, bait and change pricing, and mechanical situation points.”

The federation cited sudden charges and “overpriced add-on services and products” as widespread complaints. Final yr, the Federal Commerce Fee proposed new laws limiting the charges dealerships can cost and requiring clear-language, up-front disclosure of expenses.

Amongst different issues, the proposed guidelines would ban “bait and change” promoting wherein a dealership advertises a value they received’t honor. “Shock charges” that add on merchandise that present no precise worth to the patron would even be banned.

The proposal stays in improvement.

Automakers, for his or her half, are looking for new methods to limit markups and different dealership habits that offers them a foul identify. Steps embody telling dealerships they’ll lose the best to promote standard fashions in the event that they mark them up closely and cracking down on sellers who work with third events to inflate costs.

Associated – Research: Automotive Sellers Lose Repeat Enterprise Via Markups

Sellers Can Be Improper, However So Can Complainants

To be truthful to dealerships and repair facilities, nonetheless, not each criticism is cheap. The federation highlights just a few samples in its report. They embody one filed by a purchaser who felt the loaner automobile they acquired for seven weeks was lower than their requirements. One other got here from a purchaser upset {that a} Montana dealership wouldn’t make repairs below a guaranty relevant solely in Canada.