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Housing woes top consumer complaints list
Fauwaz Abdul Aziz | Dec 17, 08 6:41pm

Housing developers topped the list of consumer complaints last year, making up 2,076 (8.3 percent) of the total 24,873 complaints lodged with the National Complaints Center (NCCC) in 2007.
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Among the issues that most often cropped up were poor workmanship, late delivery, abandoned housing projects and the issue of booking fees.

perpaduan heights abandoned housing project kuala pilah 291008Presenting these figures today, NCCC director Muhd Sha’ani Abdullah said the centre and the Federation of Malaysian Consumers Associations (Fomca) had since 2004 called on the government to implement the ‘build-and-sell’ concept which would solve the above problems.

He said the implementation of the '10-90' concept (where the house buyer pays a 10 percent down-payment and the rest only upon completion of the house), and other improvements to the house-purchasing system could have saved thousands of consumers millions of ringgit and frustration.

“We are actually promoting abuse... The system promotes abuse,” he told a press conference today after presenting the report at the National Institute of Public Administration in Kuala Lumpur.

Sha’ani said complaints against direct selling agents took second place (1,933 - 7.7 percent), including claims that it is mostly ‘vulnerable’ (elderly, low-income, less educated) consumers who are targeted, that there is often a lack of information pertaining to the products sold and the lack of ‘exit’ provisions after the sale.

Complaints against private colleges

Coming in at a close third (1,856-7.4 percent) were complaints filed against institutions of private education, he added.

Instances of such complaints include those filed against colleges who apply to the National Higher Education Fund Corporation 'on behalf' of their students without their knowledge, unaccredited programmes, misleading advertisements and promotions and inadequate facilities and premises.

Sha'ani also revealed that of those who lodged the complaints with NCCC - by telephone, e-mails, letters, 'walk-ins' and through NCCC’s website - 67 percent (16,612) were Malays, 23 percent (5,686) were Chinese, and nine percent (2,354) were Indians. The remaining 0.9 percent were either locals of other ethnic groups or foreigners.

Sha'ani said 82.1 percent (20,477) of complaints were handled by NCCC, while the rest were channeled to the Tribunal for Consumer Claims, the Financial Mediation Bureau and other public sector bodies.

mohamad sidek hassan chief secretary of governmentOfficiating the launch of the NCCC report was chief secretary to the government Mohd Sidek Hassan, who revealed that the complaints lodged with NCCC signified a 36 percent jump from the previous year.

“I believe that the increase is a result of the higher number of consumers in the country as well as an increased awareness (of their rights). Another factor is the probability that NCCC is more well-known among consumers,” he said.

Sidek also called for groups to hold more awareness programmes to disseminate information on consumer rights, especially among schoolchildren, youth and women in the rural areas.

He also urged civil servants to accept complaints positively as a chance to improve.

“A complaint is a gift, and must be dealt with it. We must be oblivious to who is the complainant, and deal with the complaint immediately,” he said.

Consumers need to be more informed

Fomca president N Marimuthu said NCCC had succeeded in settling 82 percent of the problems brought to it in 2007, an improvement of eight percent from 2006.

n marimuthu 260804While agreeing that consumers need to be more informed and assertive of their rights, Marimuthu said businesses and traders also need to be told of the limits to the ‘disclaimer’ clause that they so often resort to - such as stipulating goods and deposits that are ‘non-returnable’ and parking lots with warnings that car owners park at their own risk.

He pointed out that the Housing Developers Act 1966 stipulates that not more than one percent of a house’s total price can be taken by property agents should a sale and purchase agreement fail to pull through.

Most property agents currently impose between two percent to five percent of a house price on house buyers.

These statements are not meant to offend or slight any parties but to “inform you all where the groups should improve and what the rakyat wants,” said Marimuthu.