Telecom companies were the focus of consumer complaints last year, according to a recent Consumers' Foundation survey.
Last year the consumer protection group received a total of 11,288 complaints, of which 827 were telecom service-related, followed by 486 disputes regarding bank services.
"With many new telecom sector services [compared to other industries], both service providers and consumers are still trying to figure out suitable market practices," said Cheng Jen-Hung (
Telecom services include mobile phone services, Internet services as well as long-distance calling services.
He added that as competition in that market is tough, companies often run ads that the public find hard to comprehend.
For instance, many consumers frequently complained about unclear charges on their mobile phones or international bills.
"Most users don't know the discount rates only apply to certain time slots, because the ads don't make it clear," Cheng said.
In addition, with an increasing number of Internet companies starting to offer online shopping or online gaming services, the Consumers' Foundation expects more disputes to emerge from this sector, he added.
As for the banking sector, consumers were particularly peeved with credit card services.
"Consumers didn't feel very comfortable using plastic money with credit card fraud running rampant," Cheng said.
In September of last year, three employees of the Financial Information Service Co (FISC,
More than 1 million card numbers were leaked, resulting in at least NT$3 billion in unauthorized charges on consumers' cards, according to Chinese-language media reports.
Cheng added that over the past year, other bank-related disputes the foundation handled involved credit card holders who were levied high interest rates or charged for products they didn't buy.
Rounding out the next three sectors in the list were insurance services, vehicle purchases and recreational services such as fitness centers and spas.
Consumer complaints rose 36 percent last year over the previous year from 8,309 to 11,288 cases.
"The increase demonstrated consumers are more aware of their rights and turned to public groups for protection," Cheng said.
"We are glad to see the public's reaction ? in an effort to build a better marketplace, we need consumers to let companies know right from wrong," he added.
Cheng also urged companies to put consumer protection as their top priority.
"As market competition continues to grow, only companies building strong and trustworthy relationships with consumers can win the game in the long run," he stressed.
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