HAVING good moan is said to be something of a British national pastime, but now new research has found that Scots are the least likely to complain about a defective product or unsatisfactory service.
According to a survey by Ombudsman Services, only a third of people in Scotland follow up a problem, compared to 48 per cent in the UK as a whole.
However, despite the lack of action Scots are just as likely to be disappointed by a purchase or service, with more than half saying they had encountered an unsatisfactory scenario last year.
The retail sector is the most likely to be on the receiving end of gripes from Scottish consumers, attracting nearly a third of all complaints, followed by energy suppliers (12%), banking (8%) and telecoms (6%).
In 2014, Ombudsman Services handled 6886 cases from Scotland, more than double the number (2972) from 2013.
Overall, there were 3.7 million customer complaints in Scotland in 2014, equivalent to one problem every five seconds
People in South of Scotland were the most likely to complain, whilst people most likely to “grin and bear it” were those in Lothian.
Aberdonians and people living in the north east made the most complaints in 2014, with 1.05 per head
Lewis Shand-Smith, Chief Executive of Ombudsman Services said: “This is the first time we have focussed on Scotland in our Consumer Action Monitor report which has previously been carried out across the UK.
"The findings differ to research carried out in other areas of the UK, with Scots less prepared to complain with people elsewhere.”
“In 2014, Ombudsman Services handled more than double the number from 2013. However, this isn’t necessarily bad news as it could indicate greater awareness amongst Scottish consumers of how to complain effectively and ensure they receive the service they are entitled to.”
He added: “With the prospect of additional powers over consumer affairs issues being devolved to Holyrood by the Scotland Bill currently being debated at Westminster, we hope this data will also provide additional information to those deciding how best to manage these issues in Scotland in future.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here