Consumers in Lancashire '˜aren't complaining enough'

Residents in Preston made over 130,000 complaints about shoddy service last year.

But they are still not acting on many issues – as it is estimated another 180,000 complainants could have been made. This is leaving consumers without compensation or missing out on having the problem fixed.

According to Ombudsman Services, which resolves complaints that have been ongoing for more than eight weeks, residents made 669 complaints about their energy suppliers alone last year, up by 20 per cent from 2014. The most common gripes relate to billing issues, or problems with transfers. There were a further 173 complaints about communications firms.

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Chief Ombudsman Lewis Shand Smith said: “We’re still seeing consumers ignore millions of problems each year because they’d rather suffer in silence than go through the perceived hassle of complaining.”