Attorney General Miyares announces Top 10 consumer complaints

Richmond, VA — On March 7, 2022, As part of National Consumer Protection Week, Attorney General Jason Miyares announced the Top 10 consumer complaints received by his office. By highlighting these common complaints, the Attorney General hopes Virginians will stay vigilant to any sale or service that seems suspicious or illegal and actively report any consumer concern.

During 2021, the Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Section received and processed 5,036 consumer complaints. The Top 10 complaint subjects were:

1. Automotive Sales

2. Credit, Loans & Debt Collection

3. Home Improvement, Service & Repair

4. Entertainment

5. Warranties & Rebates

6. Internet Sales & Service

7. Automotive Service & Repair

8. Medical/Health Professions

9. Other Professional Services

10. Timeshares & Recreation Property (tie)

10. Transportation & Freight (tie)

The Attorney General’s Office serves as the central clearinghouse in Virginia for the receipt, evaluation, and referral of consumer complaints. It also operates a Consumer Protection Hotline. Last year, the Office handled more than 14,000 calls from consumers needing assistance.

“My Consumer Protection Section is dedicated to protecting Virginia consumers and enforcing Virginia’s consumer protection laws. Unfortunately, there are bad actors who seek to take advantage of Virginians in a variety of sophisticated scams and through fraudulent behavior. This hurts both consumers and the overwhelming amount of Virginia businesses who play by the rules,” said Attorney General Miyares.

“If you have a complaint regarding a consumer issue, please contact my Office to see how we can help you. If the matter falls under the jurisdiction of another agency, we will help get you to the right place.”

In addition to serving as Virginia’s clearinghouse for consumer complaints, the Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Section also offers dispute resolution services to individual consumers and businesses to assist them in resolving consumer complaints.

The Dispute Resolution Unit can serve as a neutral facilitator and point of contact between consumers and businesses as they voluntarily work toward a mutually agreeable outcome. Last year, the Dispute Resolution Unit and the Section’s investigators resolved or closed 3,881 consumer complaints with consumers recovering $507,809.

To learn more about consumer protection in Virginia, Attorney General Miyares encourages consumers to check out our Consumer Complaint Database. Individuals can find the number of complaints filed against a specific business, whether the complaints are open or closed, a description of the complaint topic, the outcome of individual complaints, and other information. The database can be searched by company name, industry, or complaint topic among other categories and limited to geographic areas.

Virginians who have a question, concern, or complaint about a consumer matter should contact Attorney General Miyares’ Consumer Protection Section:

By phone: (800) 552-9963
By email: consumer@oag.state.va.us
Online Complaint Form
Online Contact Form