Brussels, 07/12/2012 (Agence Europe) - EU consumers have once again expressed their dissatisfaction with the performance of banking, telecoms and energy services, according to the European Commission's 2012 Consumer Markets Scoreboard published on 7 December 2012. The Scoreboard is an annual report that ranks the performance of 51 consumer markets based on consumers' trust in business, comparability of offers, overall satisfaction and the incidence of complaints and problems. Consumer choice, switching of tariffs/providers and price differences between countries are also monitored. Markets for investment products, mortgages and real estate services are at the bottom of the satisfaction list for the third year in a row. Goods markets appear to do better in living up to customers' expectations, in spite of poor results scored by the automotive, clothing and meat markets.
Health and Consumer Policy Commissioner Tonio Borg said: “Consumer expenditure accounts for 56% of overall European GDP. Markets where consumers are confused, misled, find it hard to switch or have little choice will be less competitive, at a cost to consumers and the economy as a whole.”
The Consumer Markets Scoreboard 2012 shows that bank services remain the worst performing group of markets from a consumer perspective because consumers struggle to compare the different fees and conditions offered and find it difficult to choose the best deal, or to subsequently switch providers. Telecoms also score badly; while the number of problems has dropped considerably compared with 2011, it is still the highest of all market groups. At the same time, the markets for TV subscriptions and internet provision register the highest increase in score compared with 2011 due to bundling of services. Energy markets have particularly poor scores on choice, comparability and switching suppliers and tariffs. The market for second-hand cars ranks at the bottom of goods markets for the third consecutive year, with the lowest scores on trust, comparability and highest incidence of problems. The largest decrease in scores was registered by postal services and public transport; this may reflect the cut in budgets due to austerity policies. The car fuel market has slumped right back for the second year in a row.
Complaints centres from around a third of member states have started to submit harmonised complaints data to the Commission as set out in Commission recommendations in 2010. (AN/transl.fl)