, Singapore

These ten industries annoy Singapore consumers the most

The timeshare industry isn’t among them, surprisingly.

In 2015, Singapore consumers’ headaches were caused primarily by the motorcar as well as electrical and electronics industries.

According to CASE’s report, complaints for the two industries climbed in 2015. The motorcar industry had 2,907 complaints, while the electrical and electronics industry saw 1,667 complaints this year.

Rounding out the list were beauty, contractors, furniture, travel, telecommunications, handphones, and clubs.

Meanwhile, for the first time in more than ten years, the timeshare industry has fallen out of Consumers Association of Singapore’s (CASE) list of top ten Singapore industries with the most consumer complaints.

For 2014 to 2015, complaints against the industry fell from the ninth rank with 869 complaints, to the 11th rank with 536 complaints. This translates to a steep fall of 38.3%.

CASE believes the drop in complaints is thanks to the organisation’s efforts to curb errant timeshare companies that use hard selling tactics and offer empty promises to consumers.

CASE also suggested several amendments to the timeshare provisions in the Consumer Protection (Fair Trading) Act (CPFTA) that were later adopted by the government.

In addition, the association reports it was vigilant in reporting and educating consumers about their rights under the CPFTA, as well as timeshare vendors’ unethical sales practices.

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