Attorney General unveils top 2009 consumer complaints

DENVER — Colorado Attorney General John Suthers unveiled today statistics on the top consumer complaints for 2009 and the first two months of 2010 to mark the beginning of National Consumer Protection Week.

“Protecting Colorado consumers from deceptive trade practices, antitrust violations, unfair lending practices and a range of other violations of our consumer-protection laws is one of the most important charges of my office,” Suthers said. “Thanks to our efforts and the outreach of partners in the nonprofit and media sectors, Colorado consumers are, on the whole, very well informed of the dangers they face online, through the mail and over the telephone.”

During the 2009 calendar year, Colorado consumers filed 1984 complaints with the Office of the Attorney General. The top 10 types of complaints received last year were: 

By business, the top 10 complaint-getters for 2009 were: 

During January and February 2010, Colorado consumers filed 604 complaints with the Office of the Attorney General. The top 10 types of complaints were: 

By business, the top 10 complaint-getters for January and February 2010 were:

If a consumer believes they have been defrauded or victimized by a Colorado business or nonprofit, they can file a report by visiting www.coloradoattorneygeneral.gov/complaint, calling 1-800-222-4444 or sending an e-mail to stop.fraud@state.co.us.

To learn more about the Office of the Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Section and its recent cases, visit www.coloradoattorneygeneral.gov. To learn more about National Consumer Protection Week, visit www.consumer.gov. 

Attachments: 

2009 top complaints release