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Better Business Bureau of Southern Piedmont and Western North Carolina released its 2022 annual report today, detailing consumer activity related to businesses in the BBB’s 37-county service area.
This report includes statistics on consumer complaints, customer reviews, and the top five scams.
Consumer complaints
In 2022, consumers filed a record 24,000+ complaints against area businesses, showing a 6.5% increase from 2021.
“Over the last year, we’ve worked to make the consumer experience when filing a complaint seamless. We’ve updated our forms and made it easy for consumers to differentiate between whether they’re looking to file a complaint or leave a review,” said BBB of Southern Piedmont and Western North Carolina President Tom Bartholomy.
Despite the large number of complaints filed, the BBB could still resolve 93% of all complaints submitted.
Customer reviews
Additionally, in 2022, customers submitted more than 21,000 reviews about businesses, showing an 11% increase from 2021.
“Customer reviews continue to be on the rise,” said Bartholomy. “Potential customers always want to know what third parties say about a business they're considering working with, and the BBB is a great resource for that. We also know how valuable these reviews are and continue to encourage businesses to ask their customers to leave them reviews on BBB.org.”
Top 5 scams of 2022
- Online purchase/counterfeit products
- Employment
- Phishing/impersonation scams
- Tech support
- Advance fee loan
Consumers can visit BBB.org to check out a business, file a complaint or leave a review.