European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - September 27, 1985, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 16 the stars and stripes Friday september 27,1985 consumer a mail order firms top consumer complaints by Randolph e. Schmid associated press c comedians like to joke about unscrupulous used car salesmen but anew study shows that Hoy generate fewer consumer complaints than Home  dry cleaners or department stores among others. Indeed the annual consumer complaint report from the National Council of better business bureaus ranked used car dealers 17th on its list with less than 1 percent of the consumer complaints. Tops in attracting the ire of americans were mall order firms with nearly one out of every live complaints handled by the bureaus More than double the complaints of any of the 105 other categories of business rated in the study. Overall the nation s 93 local better business bureaus handled 2,109,100 consumer complaints in 1984, up irom 1,780,900 a year earlier. In addition Consumers called 5.9 million times to ask questions. White More than 2 million complaints were received the bureaus rank businesses according to their share of the 384,700 complaints the organization processed and settled during the year. Many others Are not pursued by Consumers or too Little information is provided to process them. Mail order firms accounted for 19.7 percent of the complaints settled followed by Home remodelling and improvement arms with 8.4 percent. The same two categories also dominated the inquiries Calegory but Home remodeler were first at 16 percent with mall order companies second at 6.3 percent. The annual report also disclosed that nursing Homes had the Best record at settling Consumers problems while general membership and lobbying groups were least Likely to Settle complaints. Following mail order firms and Home repairers the remainder of the top 10 complaint categories were franchisee Auto dealers 6.7 percent Home furnishing stores 2.7 percent Auto repair shops 2.5 percent direct sales firms 2.4 percent miscellaneous Auto product sales 1.9 percent department stores 1.9 percent dry cleaners 1.6 percent and television repair shops 1.4 percent. Of the 5,960,500 Calls to inquire about goods or services some 16 percent concerned Home repair and improvement companies the bureaus said. Most of these Calls were irom homeowners inquiring about the reputation of a company before having work done. Mail order sales placed second on Tho inquiries list generating 6.3 percent of the Calls in that category. Not tar behind were queries about insurance 5.6 percent and franchisee Auto dealers 5.4 percent. Rounding out the 10 most inquired about businesses were organizations Soll citing donations 3.4 percent vacation certificates 2.8 percent direct sales 2.6 percent work at Home businesses 2.1 percent heating and air conditioning firms 2.0 percent and nearly one out of five comp Huntt to better Burin it Buna concern Marf order firm. Toe often f he us ordered by mall a net at was advert bed. Auto repair shops. 1.9 percent. With a settlement rate of 90 percent nursing Homes had the most Success in resolving problems with their customers the better business bureaus reported. Catalon showrooms managed a settlement rate of 87.5 percent. Miscellaneous Auto products dealers had an 87.2 percent settlement rate followed by franchised Auto dealers at 87.1 percent. Discount department stores were fifth with a settlement rate of 85.4 percent. The rest of the top 10 in settling problems were Cable television firms 85.0 percent Telephone equipment stores 83.7 percent Telephone companies 83.6 percent veterans groups. 83.3 percent and Banks 82.6 percent. Al the other end of the scale general solicitation firms had the poorest settlement rate at Only 37.5 percent. Coupon Book promotions were next at 39.6 percent followed by water conditioning companies with a rate of 46.2 percent. Others that tailed to satisfy fewer than half of those complaining included work at Home companies 47.5 percent business Opportunity companies 48.0 percent and advertising solicitation firms 48.1 percent. Cement contractors managed an exact 50 percent settlement rate with complaining customers and others in the Bottom 10 were paving contractors 50.6 percent painting and wallpapering companies 54.8 percent and fire insurance companies 55.4 percent. In general unsatisfactory service was the most common complaint lodged with the better business bureaus accounting or 23 percent of All unhappy Consumers. Late or damaged delivery was second at 17.3 percent followed by unsatisfactory repairs 14.9 percent credit or Billing problems 11.2 percent and product Quality. 9.6 percent. Americans also complained about warranty problems. 8.1 percent failure to provide refunds 7.1 percent Selling practices 4.5 percent advertising practices 3.8 percent and discontinued businesses 0.5 percent. Cafes Gas coupons More than 2,500 Gas stations in the Federal Republic of Germany and West Berlin accept cafes Europe Gas coupons. The coupons Are valid at All Esso stations both on and Oft the autobahn. At 21 by Gas stations and eight final Gas stations on the autobahn and 57 cafes Europe stations. Three of the cafes Europe stations Frankfurt Lei Helm and in Olstadt Are located on the autobahn. John Mazzarino chief of the automotive Branch. Services division at cafes Europe Headquarters Munich reminds customers that the coupons can t be used at by and final stations in locations off the autobahn. This is illegal and is a violation of West 0001130/8 customs  he said. A offering Homes looking for a Home Why not Contact the veterans administration a ? not for a loan but for the House itself. A officials say they have More than 20.000 single family Homes Lor Sale nationwide mostly in the great lakes area and Southwest the houses Range from the Basic starter Type to traditional colonial and contemporary ranch styles. The properties were formerly Security for a guaranteed Loans and Are available to qualified veterans and non veterans. The a will provide competitive financing on most of the properties and Down payments Are usually Low officials said. Closings usually can be scheduled within 45 Days or sooner on Cash purchases. Cash buyers also Are offered a discount off the listed Price. A acquires about 2,000 additional Homes each month. Contact a regional offices with loan guaranty divisions for listings loan terms and conditions