The Guangdong Provincial Consumer Council recently released the "Analysis Report on Complaints in the Guangdong Provincial Consumer Council System for the First Half of 2024" (hereinafter referred to as the "Report"), which shows that in the first half of the year, consumer committees at all levels in Guangdong Province accepted 364907 consumer complaints, an increase of 182253 from last year, a year-on-year increase of 99.78%; Recovered economic losses of 223 million yuan for consumers, an increase of 101 million yuan from last year and a year-on-year increase of 83.14%. According to the analysis of the report, the number of consumer complaints received by Guangdong's various levels of consumer committees in the first half of the year has nearly doubled compared to the same period last year. The main reason is that the concentration of national statutory holidays and the policy of exchanging old for new consumer goods in the first half of the year have driven consumer enthusiasm, and the effects of holiday economy and consumer promotion policies have continued to heat up the consumer market. The report shows that in the first half of the year, driven by policies and demand, the production and sales of physical goods, especially automobiles, household appliances, etc., were booming. Except for pharmaceuticals and medical supplies, the number of complaints in all product categories increased, totaling 152356, an increase of 77120 from the same period last year, accounting for 41.75% of the total number of complaints. Household electronic appliances (45957 items), clothing, shoes and hats (38365 items), and daily necessities (28031 items) ranked among the top three complaints in the commodity category, with a total of 112353 items, accounting for 73.74% of the total complaints in the commodity category. In the first half of the year, with the expansion of service consumption demand, except for financial services, all service categories saw an increase in complaints, totaling 176317 cases, an increase of 70314 cases compared to the same period last year, accounting for 48.32% of the total complaints. The number of complaints ranked first in Internet services (67849), followed by life and social services (37748), telecommunications services (24290) and education and training services (14758). The above four types of complaints accounted for 82.04% of the total number of service complaints. From the analysis of complaint nature, after-sales service (114524 cases), contract (100400 cases), and quality (77783 cases) ranked among the top three complaints in the first half of the year, with a total of 292707 cases, accounting for 80.21% of the total number of complaints. Among them, after-sales service had the highest number of complaints, accounting for 31.38% of the total number of complaints. At the same time, the increase in after-sales service complaints was also the highest, with an increase of 46710 cases compared to the same period last year, a year-on-year increase of 68.88%. Complaints were mainly distributed in telecommunications services, life and social services, and household electronic appliances. The proportion of quality issues in the total number of complaints has increased from 19.29% to 21.32%. Complaints are mainly distributed in the fields of clothing, shoes, hats, household electronic appliances, and daily necessities, mostly related to daily necessities. In addition, there has been a significant increase in counterfeit and human dignity complaints, with year-on-year increases of 262.14% and 208.73% respectively. Counterfeit complaints are mainly concentrated in the field of household electronic appliances, with 2336 cases, accounting for 48.17%; Human dignity complaints are mainly distributed in Internet service, life and social service complaints, accounting for 24.40% and 18.80% respectively. According to the Report, in the first half of the year, consumer complaints in various categories of goods and services were widely distributed with many hot spots, and complaints in the fields of home appliances, life social services, and Internet services were more prominent. Poor quality of smart home appliances and inadequate after-sales service. In the first half of the year, consumer committees at all levels in Guangdong handled a total of 45957 complaints related to household electronic appliances, a year-on-year increase of 169.46% and an increase of 28902 complaints. Consumers mainly report problems such as rapid product updates, uneven quality, frequent malfunctions, functional confusion, short lifecycle, and failure to fulfill the "three guarantees" regulations in after-sales service. Marriage services come in various styles and levels vary greatly. In the first half of the year, consumer committees at all levels in Guangdong handled a total of 2403 complaints about intermediary services, a year-on-year increase of 183.04% and an increase of 1554 cases. Consumers mainly report that institutions lack professional knowledge and experience, are unable to provide matching marriage advice, fabricate information about marriage seekers, exaggerate service effectiveness, and excessively collect personal information. There is a high demand for broadband access, and there are many issues with after-sales promotion. In the first half of the year, the consumer committees at all levels in Guangdong handled a total of 10435 complaints about network access services, a year-on-year increase of 43.54% and an increase of 3165 cases. Consumers mainly report problems such as unstable network signals, multiple advertising tactics, opaque rules for activity packages, delayed handling of after-sales issues, and setting refund thresholds. (New Society)