SINGAPORE — Customers filed a total of 3,711 complaints against e-businesses and e-marketplaces with the Consumers Association of Singapore (Case) last year, a 47 per cent surge from the 2,530 cases recorded in 2022.

About one in five of these e-commerce complaints involved delivery delays, the consumer watchdog said in a news release on Thursday (Feb 8).

Another 17 per cent of such complaints involved consumers not receiving timely refunds from businesses.

In total, Case received 13,991 complaints in 2023, a 24 per cent drop from 15,144 in 2022.

The association added that complaints across various industries had generally dipped last year, except for the motorcar industry that saw an 8 per cent rise in complaints, mostly involving rental or shared cars.

Such complaints nearly tripled from 152 in 2022 to 435 in 2023. These often concerned disputes on pre-existing defects, damages, and repair charges imposed by rental or car-sharing firms on consumers due to alleged damages.

Case received a total of 1,306 complaints against car businesses last year, making it the industry with the most consumer disputes.

The others were:

• Electrical and electronics sector with 1,195 complaints
• Renovation contractors with 1,168
• Beauty service providers with 1,166
• Furniture businesses with 715

Case noted that complaints in the beauty industry last year dropped from the 1,441 cases seen in 2022.

This decline was due to "extensive and concerted efforts" by the association and the Competition and Consumer Commission of Singapore (CCCS) to promote fair trading in the industry and to educate consumers.

 CCCS had also reminded businesses to adopt fair trading practices and steer clear of engaging in unfair practices such as exerting undue pressure on consumers to push sales or making false or misleading claims.

In total, Case recovered close to S$2.5 million in cash and kind for consumers last year, an increase from the S$2.1 million recovered in 2022.

E-COMMERCE COMPLAINTS

Complaints against e-businesses accounted for 85 per cent of the total e-commerce complaints Case received last year. The remaining 15 per cent involved purchases made via e-marketplaces.

The association said that one in five of the e-commerce complaints involved airlines, travel and hotel industries. The electrical and electronics industry accounted for 10 per cent of the e-commerce complaints.

Case's president Melvin Yong said that the association was "deeply concerned" about the 47 per cent leap in e-commerce complaints last year. 

He added that the CaseTrust accreditation scheme for e-businesses, launched last year, can help consumers identify reliable e-businesses that are "committed to fair trading and consumer-friendly policies".

Currently, 11 e-businesses have applied for accreditation and CaseTrust is assessing their applications.

"Case will be stepping up efforts to encourage e-businesses to apply for accreditation, which will foster a trusted e-commerce environment for all," Mr Yong said.

RENTAL, SHARED CARS

Of the 1,306 disputes against car businesses last year, complaints relating to pre-owned cars made up 60 per cent and to rental or shared cars, 33 per cent.

About 35 per cent of the total disputes were related to defective or non-conforming goods, commonly seen with pre-owned cars. Another 10 per cent of the complaints were related to unsatisfactory services such as delayed processing of refunds.

Mr Yong, who is also Member of Parliament for Radin Mas constituency, said that Case was concerned about the sharp rise in complaints received against the motorcar industry as more consumers turn to rental or shared cars as an alternative to car ownership.

"We have called on the Government to consider a mandatory maintenance regime for shared cars to improve safety and reduce disputes," he added.

DIP IN AIRLINE, TRAVEL DISPUTES

For the travel industry, there was a 38 per cent drop in complaints, going from 757 in 2022 to 471 in 2023.

For the airline industry, there was 22 per cent drop from 478 complaints in 2022 to 375 complaints in 2023.

The complaints for both industries had stabilised to pre-2020 levels before the Covid-19 pandemic, and could be attributed "primarily due to the easing of travel restrictions globally, which led to fewer complaints on cancellation of trips," Case said.

PREPAYMENT LOSSES

Consumers also reported losing some S$476,000 in advance payments last year, a 26 per cent decrease from the S$645,000 lost in 2022. This was largely due to sudden business closures in the past year, Case said. 

The beauty industry accounted for the largest of such losses at S$116,000, followed by the gym and fitness club industry, which accounted for S$110,000 in losses.

Although the reported prepayment losses went down last year, such cases still remain a concern for the association, especially in light of the challenging economic landscape where consumers are anxious over rising prices, Mr Yong said.

"Case reiterates our call on the Government to mandate targeted prepayment protection in industries where prepayment losses are high, to better safeguard consumers' hard-earned monies.

"We encourage consumers to continue patronising CaseTrust-accredited businesses in the beauty, renovation contractor service and motoring industries as they are required to protect consumers’ prepayments and deposits," Mr Yong added.

Even though Case has seen an overall decrease in the number of consumer complaints last year, the association reiterated that more is needed to "strengthen consumer protection and address common consumer pain points".

"Case will continue to engage the Government and industry stakeholders to strengthen consumer safeguards and put a stop to undesirable business practices," Mr Yong said.