A new report from the Tennessee Attorney General’s Office Division of Consumer Affairs shows that the top complaint category among Tennessee consumers last year was home improvements and repairs and home warranties.
The Division of Consumer Affairs, according to its website, is the “clearinghouse for consumer complaints about unfair or deceptive acts or practices” conducted throughout Tennessee.
Approximately 8 percent of the total 8,536 formal consumer complaints last year involved the “purchase and execution of home warranties, as well as the use of contracting services to repair or remodel the home,” according to the Division of Consumer Affairs.
Common complaints within the top category, the Division of Consumer Affairs said, included “disputes related to warranty coverage; quality of work performed by hired individual/business; incomplete work; and structural damage caused by hired individual/business.”
The category which received the second most consumer complaints among Tennesseans last year involved health services and products, as a total of 675 complaints were filed.
The third most complaints among consumers last year involved disputes between tenants and property owners or property managers, as a total of 614 complaints were filed in the landlord/tenant category.
Other top complaint categories reported by Tennesseans last year included Internet Sales (520 complaints); Personal & Professional Services (495 complaints); Debtor/Creditor (490 complaints); Motor Vehicle Repairs and Warranties (483 complaints); Motor Vehicle Used Sales and Advertising (482 complaints); Motor Vehicle Lease/Towing/Rental/Parking (413 complaints); and Timeshares/Vacation Clubs (406 complaints).
When Tennesseans report complaints to the Division of Consumer Affairs, the division either routes complaints to appropriate agencies or mediates them, providing “customers and businesses a good faith means to remedy disputes.”
In 2024, according to the Division of Consumer Affairs, the division’s voluntary mediation program facilitated consumer recoveries of over $3 million in cash, merchandise, and services.
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Kaitlin on X / Twitter.
Photo “Home Improvement” by EHR CC4.0.
