Consumer complaints filed at the FCC were up sharply in last...
Consumer complaints filed at the FCC were up sharply in last year’s Q1, compared to Q4 2010, the agency said in a report released Wednesday (http://xrl.us/bmo5ts). Inquiries were down overall, the agency said. The commission saw an overall increase in…
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complaints of 27 percent across the four major categories. Complaints about wireline surged by almost 31 percent to 29,480, dominated by complaints concerning the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), the Do Not Call list and unsolicited faxes. Complaints about wireless were up more than 30 percent to 27,495, the report said. Call or message to wireless device-related complaints led to the increase. But complaints about radio and TV broadcasting and cable and satellite services fell by 4 percent across both categories. Consumer “inquiries,” meanwhile, dropped in the quarter, driven by deep declines in the wireless arena, the FCC said. The overall number of inquiries for the four major categories decreased by more than 37 percent compared to the final quarter of 2010 to 20,451, the agency said. Inquiries about wireless “notably decreased” by more than 81 percent to 3,477, with a major drop in “bill shock” questions, the report said. The other three categories saw increases. Inquiries about radio and TV broadcasting were up almost 33 percent to 6,381, driven by concerns over programming issues. Inquiries on Cable and satellite services increased 7 percent to 2,057, with billing and rates questions responsible for 45 percent of the inquiries. The number of questions on wireline grew by more than 8 percent to 8,536, with 63 percent of questions raised related to TCPA matters.