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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
March 3, 2025 |
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LANSING – As part of National Consumer Protection Week, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel is highlighting the accomplishments of the Department’s Consumer Protection Team and the top complaints from consumers in 2024.
Attorney General Nessel and the Consumer Protection Team partner with the Better Business Bureau, the Federal Trade Commission, the AARP, and others to share information and educate Michigan residents about common scams, data breaches, and other consumer-related issues. The Consumer Protection Team receives more than 10,000 written consumer complaints and more than 20,000 phone calls from consumers each year and enforces various statutes, including the Michigan Consumer Protection Act (MCPA).
Violations of the MCPA often affect consumers financially in the form of money lost for products or services not received. In cases where the monies could be recovered, the Department of Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Team recouped $1.9 million for Michigan consumers and businesses in 2024 in the form of consumer complaint mediation recovery, settlements, and refunds.
The top 10 complaints from consumers in 2024 were in the areas of:
- Internet: This category includes complaints involving online purchases, as well as computer communications and technology, and internet service providers.
- Retail: This category includes purchases that involved late deliveries or products that were never delivered. Other complaints include the purchases of appliances, furniture and other items that were defective or did not work as advertised.
- Motor Vehicle/Automobile: This category includes complaints against used car dealers, auto repair shops, new car dealers and passenger car rentals.
- Credit/Financial Concerns: This category covers a variety of areas including debt collection and reporting, credit repair, payday lending and mortgage brokering.
- Personal Service Providers: This category covers dating services, beauty companies, fitness facilities, spas, home security and tax preparation services.
- Health Service Providers: The category includes health service providers like doctors, dentists, hospitals and medical clinics.
- Landlord/Tenant: This category involves disputes between renters and apartment owners or property management companies, mobile home parks and site operators, as well as condominium associations.
- Gasoline/Fuel/Energy: This category includes complaints against utility companies, gas stations and propane providers.
- Contractors: This category covers residential building construction services, snow removal and landscaping services, plumbing, heating and air conditioning services, and special trade contractors such as those providing emergency tree services.
- Telecommunications/Cable/Satellite TV: This category includes complaints against wireless communications, cable and satellite TV services with most of the reports being billing and service issues (NOTE: this category does not include robocalls).
“I am incredibly proud of the work my Consumer Protection Team does every year to help Michigan residents resolve complaints and fight back against fraud,” Nessel said. “I want to thank the thousands of Michiganders that reached out to my office in an effort to hold bad actors accountable. Our efforts are making a real difference. If you think you’ve been scammed, please do not hesitate to contact us.”
These 10 complaint areas represented 8,596 of the total 10,423 written complaints received by the Department’s Consumer Protection Team. The Consumer Protection Team reviews every single complaint received by the office, either via online complaint form or email. Scams change with the season, and the Department issues regular alerts with the latest information when new ploys crop up so residents can spot and avoid scammers. The Department also has a dedicated consumer protection website, which includes an easily searchable library of alerts and resources.
To file a complaint with the Attorney General, or get additional information, contact:
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