Furniture stores top chart of complaints

COMPLAINTS about leather furniture topped the list of gripes received by a government advice service for the second year running.

Consumer Direct Scotland received 1,943 complaints about leather furniture during 2007 – up 10 per cent on the previous year. Complaints about second-hand cars purchased from franchise dealers and independent dealers were second and third respectively.

Consumer Direct Scotland answered more than 100,000 calls and e-mails from consumers in 2007 and logged 51,716 complaints on its database, up 23 per cent from the previous year.

Gordon Macdonald, manager for Consumer Direct Scotland, said: "The rise in complaints in 2007 reflects, in part, a growing awareness of the service among the general public as well as an increasing willingness among consumers to complain when they buy unsatisfactory goods or receive poor service."