KonsumentrapportenThe Swedish Consumer Report 2015

Transcription

SWEDISH CONSUMER
REPORT 2015
Consumer Conditions in Sweden
© Swedish Consumer Agency 2015
Report 2015:4
Project Manager: Johan Jarelin
Illustrations: Annika Carlsson
Print: Universitetstryckeriet, Karlstad, 2015
Print run: 100 copies
2
SWEDISH CONSUMER REPORT 2015
SWEDISH CONSUMER
REPORT 2015
Consumer Conditions in Sweden
CONTENTS
Preface
Summary
7
8
Introduction
Introduction: capturing consumers’ everyday lives
11
12
Theme: Cross-border Trade
15
The consumer situation in different markets
Reading guide
Telecommunications
Insurance
Banking and financial services
Legal services
31
32
34
38
42
44
Consumer conditions in different markets
Consumer Markets Index
49
50
Unsuccessful purchases
The significance of markets for household finances
Aggregated results
57
63
67
Appendices
The 45 markets included in the CMS
Summary of results
Facts about the CMS
71
72
74
78
CONTENTS
5
6
PREFACE
Many Swedish consumers make purchases outside of Sweden’s geographical
boundaries. We make these purchases both when we are abroad and when we
are sitting at home in front of the computer or with a tablet or mobile in our
hand. It is still the case that the majority of Swedish consumers prefer to use
Swedish companies when they buy online, but one in three also shops at online
stores located abroad. This is a development that we have probably only seen
the beginning of, which is one of the reasons we have chosen to focus on crossborder trade in this year’s Swedish Consumer Report.
We see this greater choice being of benefit to consumers, but we also see
that many consumers do not know what they can do is something goes wrong.
In fact, many people do nothing at all when they are dissatisfied with a crossborder purchase. The Swedish Consumer Report discusses the most common
problems involving cross-border trade and the measures we believe might be
successful in correcting them. It would, of course, be best if consumers could
avoid the most common mistakes. We would also like to see reputable companies
gaining market share at the expense of those that are disreputable.
For the third year in a row, the Swedish Consumer Agency has also surveyed
the conditions for Swedish consumers in a variety of markets. Our findings are
presented here in Swedish Consumer Report 2015. We hope that the attention
surrounding our surveys will help markets to function better. Our studies provide
us with important information about where the location and nature of problems.
This, in turn, helps us to target our measures correctly.
Our ambition is that markets function properly for both consumers and businesses.
Agreements with the industry on improved terms and conditions for consumers
are a good way to achieve this. Well-informed, active consumers are another.
The Swedish Consumer Agency’s enforcement activities are a tool used to
achieve the same goal, as is our valuable cooperation with other government
agencies, associations and trade association, as well as with consumer advisers
and budget and debt advisers.
We hope that Swedish Consumer Report 2015 will equip you with information
that is useful for your work or for you as a consumer.
Gunnar Larsson
Director-General of the Swedish Consumer Agency
Consumer Ombudsman
PREFACE
7
SUMMARY
2015 is the third year in a row that the Swedish Consumer
Agency carries out the Swedish Consumer Report. The
aim is to highlight consumers' problems and opportunities,
and to describe key situations in which consumers must
act. By doing this, and dividing the consumer market into
different sections, we provide the involved actors with a
knowledge base that may be of interest to them. We also
create a solid basis on which to decide what the Swedish
Consumer Agency should focus their activities on so as
to ensure maximum benefit. As with previous years, we
can establish that consumption is associated with a large
number of choices, and as such that the consumer must
be able to navigate this situation. This creates both
opportunities and challenges for the consumer.
The ten most problematic markets
T elecommunication services (TV subscriptions, fixed telephone
services, mobile telephone services and internet services)
Insurance (personal/family and private house/home)
Banking and financial services (investments/pensions
and personal loans/credit cards)
Legal services (for instance during a divorce, estate
inventory, tax issues, financial disputes, legal procedures
and similar cases)
Tradesmen
Evaluating the situation for
Swedish consumers
Just as in previous years, the Swedish Consumer Report
provides an updated view of the consumer situation
within the 45 different consumer markets. We will use the
annual Consumer Market Survey (KMU) as the main basis
for our report. It describes the consumer's expectations
of the market, but it does not reveal all. For this reason,
we will supplement our data with the complaint statistics
and also consider what impact these markets have on
household finances.
Problematic consumer markets
Most markets have both strengths and weaknesses. A
positive ranking which is based on the range of available
choices does not necessarily guarantee that trust in
advertising or sales people will be rated highly. There are
also some markets that stand out by being amongst the
most problematic in many respects – this can mean that
they have a variety of issues such as complaints, a lack
of opportunities to compare products, a low level of
confidence in the business and lack of breadth in the range
of products. The Swedish Consumer Agency's overall
assessment is that the following markets or segments are
currently the most problematic for consumers in Sweden:
8
Auto repair shops
Clothing/Footwear
Electricity
Estate agents
Travel by rail and local public transport
From this list we have decided to take a more in-depth
look at the top four, which are considered to be the most
problematic. In the report, we expand on the problematic
issues of these markets/sectors and reflect on the possible
improvements that can be made, as well as describe the
initiatives that have been taken, and ones that are under way.
As Swedish consumers, we do not only use companies that
are based in Sweden. Firstly, we purchase products from
foreign companies when we travel abroad, and secondly
it is becoming ever more common to distance purchase
products and services from companies that are located
abroad. This type of shopping, from companies that are
based outside of Sweden, is referred to as cross-border
trade. There are several reasons to examine this type
of trade in this year's Consumer Report. Through
Konsument Europa (European Consumer Centre Sweden),
an independent unit within the Swedish Consumer Agency
that is partly financed by the European Commission, we
have learned that Swedish consumers run into a great deal
of problems when purchasing from companies that are
located abroad. The Swedish Consumer Agency is also
aware of the challenges that this creates for us in our work
to protect consumers when the businesses that Swedish
consumers are having problems with are based abroad.
Main results
In order to map Swedish consumer's cross-border trade,
we have compared several surveys and supplemented
these results with information that others have found.
In our surveys we have asked about purchases and trips
that have been made during the last twelve months.
Our results regarding cross-border trade as such, and the
extent to which problems occur, are briefly as follows:
• 80 per cent of Swedish consumers have distance purchased
something during the last year. The majority of purchases are
done online.
• Around 30 per cent have distance purchased from a company
that they knew was located abroad.
• More than 70 per cent have travelled abroad during the last
year, and most people have done so more than once.
• 16 per cent of those who purchased online from a company that
was located abroad were unhappy with something that they
bought. 7 per cent said that they were dissatisfied with their
latest purchase.
• 11 per cent of those who had travelled abroad were dissatisfied
with something that they had purchased during one of their
trips abroad.
• Around 50 per cent of the dissatisfied online buyers, and
almost 75 per cent of the dissatisfied foreign travellers have
not tried or succeeded in sorting out their failed purchases.
This translates into around 180 000 and around 400 000
consumers who are annually affected by at least one such
unresolved grievance.
Most purchases turn out as intended, but a certain percentage of all purchases end in dissatisfaction. When there is a
problem with a purchase it is important that the chance of
resolving the issue is good. However, our results show that
a majority of buyers continue to be dissatisfied as they do
not try, or succeed in resolving their failed purchase. One
basic requirement for a grievance being resolved is that the
consumer takes some form of initiative. It is important to
contact the business. We have seen that many consumers
do not even take this step. The most common cause for
not acting is that people consider that it is not worth the
hassle, in relation to the small amount of money spent.
When we summarise our information, we see
the following problems as the most prominent for
the consumers, in no particular order:
• The consumers do not take advantage of the opportunities
presented by cross-border online shopping.
• Consumers buy goods and services that turn out to be wrong,
with pre-purchase information that turns out to be incorrect.
• Late or non-delivery
• Poor compliance with regulations by airlines, and poor
execution of ARN decisions
•Fraud
• Consumers do not try to resolve problems
• Lack of opportunities for consumers to get support to pursue
complaints
The first point is not really a consumer problem in
the normal sense, but rather a missed opportunity.
Proposed measures
We see six main ways to improve the conditions for
Swedish consumers to purchase from companies that
are located abroad:
• Raising consumer's awareness through communication efforts,
as well as providing better access to information about what
to do if something goes wrong
• Imposing the same strict rules for consumer protection within
the EU
• Carrying out enforcement efforts in which authorities cooperate
across borders
• Strengthening the Swedish Consumer Agency's opportunities
to act against online retailers who do not follow consumer
protection regulations
• Improving conditions for consumers to pursue complaints and
disputes
• Encouraging the business world to carry out their own consumer
protection/empowerment measures
In addition to these measures, we also propose that
the government work to ensure that the proposal for
a Common European Sales Law is not implemented
within the EU.
SUMMARY
9
10
INTRODUCTION:
CAPTURING
CONSUMERS’
EVERYDAY LIVES
KOLUMNTITEL PÅ AKTUELLT KAPITEL
11
CAPTURING
CONSUMERS’
EVERYDAY LIVES
As consumers, we can sometimes fell a great sense of satisfaction, for example when
we findsomething we really like, something we have been looking for for a long time
or a real bargain price. Other purchases or choices can feel like tiresome obligations.
How do I find the best home insurance, car mechanic or electricity supplier? We usually
make purchases without encountering problems. We get the things we need and get use
out of what we have bought. Unfortunately, it is sometime the case that we feel confused,
dissatisfied and even cheated. Swedish Consumer Report 2015 presents an up-to-date
picture of the situation for consumers, with a focus on 45 markets. The aim is to show
how various markets differ for consumers from a variety of perspectives.
This is the third edition of the Swedish Consumer Report.
Over these years, no major changes have taken place in consumers’ perception of their situation in the various markets. At
the same time, we at the Swedish Consumer Agency are seeing
indications that the Swedish Consumer Report may be having
an impact. We hear from various industries that they are discussing the need for action to improve consumer conditions
and also that such action is being taken. This makes us excited
about what the future may hold. In addition to shedding light
on what may need to be changed, the intention is also for
the Swedish Consumer Report to serve as a monitoring tool.
Naturally, we hope to be able to describe the efforts of various
stakeholders to make consumers’ everyday lives even better in
future editions of the Swedish Consumer Report.
The focus of the comparisons of different markets in this
report is on purchases made from companies in Sweden.
Of course, Swedish consumers also buy goods and services
from companies outside Sweden. Such purchases can be
made both at a distance from home, e.g. from online stores
located abroad, and when on trips abroad. ECC Sweden
(European Consumer Centre Sweden) is a unit within the
Swedish Consumer Agency that supports Swedish consumers with respect to purchases from the rest of the EU and
from Norway and Iceland. Its activities tell us that consumer
problems also arise in cross-border trade.
12
From July 2014 until June 2015, the Swedish Consumer
Agency currently holds the presidency of ICPEN (International Consumer Protection and Enforcement Network),
an organisation composed of consumer protection authorities from 53 countries. This presidency has contributed to
our choice of cross-border trade as the theme of Swedish
Consumer Report 2015.
The theme section is used to highlight cross-border trade,
focusing on the situation for Swedish consumers who take
advantage of the opportunities for such trade. We wanted
to find out how common it is for problems to arise and
what sort of problems these are. We also wanted to identify
how consumers and consumer protection organisations attempt to resolve these problems. Finally, we present some
proposals for measures we believe could help minimise the
problems Swedish consumers encounter when taking part
in in cross-border trade. Some of these mainly relate to
what consumers themselves can do, while others relate to
consumer protection and consumer information initiatives
from a social perspective.
Taking the temperature of the
situation for Swedish consumers
The Swedish Consumer Report presents an up-to-date
picture of the situation for consumers, with a focus on 45
markets. In order to describe this picture, we make use of
the annual Consumer Market Survey (CMS) as the main
basis of our report. We have designed this specifically
for use in the Swedish Consumer Report. It gives an
impression of conditions for consumers in various markets,
but does not provide the full picture. For this reason,
we supplement this data with the complaint statistics
and also consider what impact these markets have on
household finances.
The markets we are looking into do not cover everything
households consume, but they have been chosen because
they have been judged as the most significant. We have
also had to draw a line somewhere in order to make the
number of markets manageable. If we look at household
expenditure, housing-related costs such as rent, cooperative
housing charges and leasehold charges are major items for
the majority of households. However, the housing market
is not represented in the Swedish Consumer Report because there is such a big difference between choice of housing
and the choices consumers make in other markets.
We are aware that there are more or less inherent dif-
ferences between the various markets we are comparing,
and that these differences mean the markets have different
prerequisites in our comparisons. One example of such differences is that some purchases are positive and enjoyable
while others are considered tiresome obligations. The vast
majority purchase a holiday because they are really looking forward to getting away, while they buy car insurance
because they dare not take the risk of doing without it.
Another example is the ability to compare different options in a market. How do you know which car mechanic,
tradesman or solicitor to use? It can be very difficult to
get an idea in advance of what the quality of the service in
question will be and also, in some cases, what the cost will
be. Buying a book, a litre of milk or a refrigerator is, in this
respect, much simpler; you look and feel, see the expiry
date, obtain technical specifications and the like, making
comparisons relatively easy. It is also possible to compare
similar products at different physical and online stores.
Other factors differentiating markets are that some goods
CAPTURING CONSUMERS’ EVERYDAY LIVES
13
and services are consumed by everyone, while others are
relevant only to more limited groups. This might, for example, be governed by how large the household’s income
is. Even though all these differences might give the impression that comparing markets with one another is difficult,
we believe that there is a point in still doing so. The method we use in the Swedish Consumer report is intentionally rather rough. We believe that the overall picture from
our data provides an adequate and up-to-date picture of
the conditions for Swedish consumers.
Responsibility for well-functioning
consumer markets
The Swedish Consumer Report is the result of a government
commission, our aim is to contribute relevant knowledge to
key players in these markets. For a market to function well,
supply and consumer demand must be satisfied in an optimal
manner. Knowledgeable and well-informed consumers send
important signals to companies in different industries about
what is in demand. From a consumer protection perspective,
it is important for consumers to be able to trust that they
are not being cheated and that they have access to important
information. However, in reality not all consumers are
equipped to take on this role, and there are companies that
do not take on the responsibility required by the market.
This is why competition and consumer policy initiatives
from society are necessary.
Our hope is that the results of the Swedish Consumer
Report can act as an inspiration for companies that want
more satisfied customers, and that these results also put
consumer issues on the agenda for politicians, government
agencies and organisations. Many problems can be solved
by consumers and companies themselves, which is of course the smoothest option. However, at times, political or
legal action is required in order to improve the situation of
consumers; we want to provide information that will help
in both cases.
The Swedish Consumer Report also meets the Swedish
Consumer Agency’s need for a broader evidence base
for use when choosing priorities. Based on the results,
we select markets to study in more detail and present
proposals regarding intervention. Another example is the
prioritisation of enforcement and information initiatives.
It is also our ambition to initiate dialogue with industries
and government agencies using the Swedish Consumer
Report as the basis.
If the needs of consumers are to be met in the best
possible way, it is necessary for consumers, businesses
and society alike to play their part. In addressing consumer
problems, responsibility for certain solutions should be
shared by businesses, consumers and societal institutions
such as the Government and Riksdag, government
agencies, municipalities, etc. Here, we are providing some
examples of the responsibilities and opportunities that
constitute various stakeholders’ contributions to wellfunctioning consumer markets.
14
Businesses
• Provide accurate and easily accessible information
about products’ characteristics and prices, as well as
about other aspects relevant to consumers such as
cancellation rights.
• Market themselves and their products in a way that
is not misleading or which catches the consumer offguard.
• Comply with consumer protection legislation, for example with regard to complaints, cancellation rights
and the like.
Consumers
• Obtain sufficient information to make choices that are
as well-informed as possible. This applies to, for example, the product’s characteristics and price.
• Obtain information about your rights and responsibilities as a consumer.
• Take advantage of your rights and take action to resolve
any problems that arise.
• Be active. Sticking to one single supplier or product involves the risk of missing out on new opportunities that
have appeared on the market. Choices that were favourable a while ago may not be favourable now. Being loyal
to one supplier may also be beneficial. As a consumer, it
may therefore be import to consider the pros and cons of
changing or remaining loyal.
Societal Institutions
(Riksdag, Government, government agencies,
municipalities)
• Ensure that businesses comply with consumer protection and competition protection regulations.
• Be proactive in relation to businesses in order to provide
good conditions for consumers, even going beyond existing regulations.
• If necessary, develop consumer protection regulations
still further.
• Provide independent information to consumers and assistance in the event of problems.
• Provide simple and effective means by which to resolve
disputes.
THEME:
CROSS-BORDER
TRADE
15
CROSS-BORDER TRADE
With rising prosperity in Sweden, holidays abroad have become something that many
Swedes can indulge in. Each year, we make about 15 million trips abroad, the vast
majority of which are holidays. Sometimes consumption in a particular place is an
important reason why the trip is taking place; we go on city breaks and shop. At
other times, we travel to enjoy the sun and sea, but purchases are still made namely
dining in restaurants, buying something from the destination and perhaps something
from duty-free on the way home. With the entry of the internet into our everyday lives, purchasing goods from all over the world with a few simple clicks on the computer, tablet or mobile phone has become increasingly accessible.
It has also become much easier to put together a holiday
yourself by booking airline tickets, car rental and hotels as
an alternative to buying a package holiday from a Swedish
tour operator. A growing number of Swedish consumers
shop online across international borders, with their main
reasons for doing so being access to a wider range and the
potential for favourable prices. There are now numerous
foreign e-commerce companies actively targeting Swedish
consumers with adapted online stores.
We have chosen to take a closer look at cross-border trade
in particular since purchases from companies not based in
Sweden can involve certain challenges. Here in this report,
we define cross-border trade as purchases from companies
in other countries. These purchases might be made when
physically abroad or from foreign companies online.
When the companies that Swedish consumers have
problems with are located abroad, it becomes much more
difficult for us at the Swedish Consumer Agency to protect
them. We become largely dependent on cooperation with the
authorities in the country in which the company is based.
A great deal of money is spent on cross-border purchases. One of the ten priorities of the European Commission
that came to power in 2014 is a digital internal market.
16
The Commission estimates that a connected digital internal
market could generate up to EUR 250 billion in additional
growth within the EU over the coming five years.
What we have done?
In order to study cross-border trade, we have searched for existing
information from various sources and carried out three different interview surveys with consumers. All these surveys were carried out in
autumn 2014. Two of the surveys were questionnaires, one of which
used telephone interviews and the other was responded to by an
online panel. The third survey involved the use of four focus groups.
The age range of the participants in the surveys was 18–75, corresponding, based on Statistics Sweden’s population statistics,
to about 7 million consumers. We have also commissioned HUI
Research to compile a diverse range of existing evidence concerning
cross-border trade and to provide an assessment of how this might
evolve in the future.
We have only included the key results in this presentation. More
detailed results and analysis can be found in “Cross-border Trade
– data for the Swedish Consumer Report’s special topic 2015” on
Konsumentverket.se.
A lot to keep track of
When you make a purchase from foreign companies,
either when abroad or online, there are a number of factors that differ as compared to purchases from companies
in Sweden.
Consumer protection. It is not necessarily the case that the
consumer protection is worse when buying from a company abroad, but this might be the case. In some respects,
the consumer protection may actually be better in other
countries. There are certain minimum rules within the EU
that apply to all Member States and Norway and Iceland.
Import regulations. There are a lot of regulations that can
be tricky to keep track of. In many cases, when buying
in or from countries outside the EU, you will need to pay
VAT, customs duty and an import declaration fee when the
goods arrive in Sweden.
There are also products for which specific regulations
apply to their importation into Sweden, for example cars,
foodstuffs with animal content and medicines. The rules
often differ depending on whether you have purchased the
goods from a country inside or outside the EU. Without
finding out about the rules, you risk having your goods
stopped by customs or being required to pay VAT, customs duty and an import declaration fee, thus making the
purchase much more expensive.
Different standards. Other countries may have different measurement systems and different standards for electrical and
electronic products. Unless you are familiar with the differences, there is a risk of buying clothes in the wrong size
and products that do not work in Sweden.
Only one in three makes cross-border
purchases
There are challenges and problems, but how big are they?
Each year, European Consumer Centre Sweden (ECC
Sweden), an independent unit within the Swedish Consumer
Agency partly financed by the European Commission,
helps 3,000–4,000 consumers who have encountered
problems when making purchases from foreign companies
in the EU, Norway and Iceland. This applies to both
physical purchases abroad and online purchases.
Only a fraction of all those who have had problems
turn to ECC Sweden. In our survey, we asked whether
consumers buy from companies abroad and whether they
have been satisfied or dissatisfied with their purchases.
Eighty per cent of respondents have made distance
purchases in the past year. The majority of purchases are
made online. The other forms of distance purchase such
as mail order and telephone shopping have a very limited
market share in comparison with online shopping.
The majority of those who buy online still use Swedish
e-commerce companies. Only around 30 per cent of consumers have bought something online in the last year from
a company they knew was located abroad. We can expect
the true figure to be somewhat higher because we know,
among other things from our focus group survey, that
some companies are perceived as Swedish although they
are in fact located abroad.
THEME: CROSS-BORDER TRADE
17
Dissatisfaction and whose fault?
18
Online
Physical purchases
Of those who have made an online purchase from an
e-commerce company that they knew was located abroad,
16 per cent responded that they were dissatisfied with
something they had bought in the past year. This corresponds
to around 340,000 consumers. Seven per cent responded
that they were fairly or very dissatisfied with their latest
purchase. Four per cent were very dissatisfied.
But dissatisfaction in cross-border online shopping cannot be considered more prevalent than in other shopping
situations. We see this when we compare the proportion
of dissatisfied consumers with other surveys carried out by
the Swedish Consumer Agency. For example, for purchases
made in connection with telesales, 19 per cent were dissatisfied with their latest purchase.
It is about four times more likely for consumers to view the
company as responsible for the unsuccessful purchase than
for them to believe this is the result of their own actions.
More than 70 per cent of Swedish consumers have travelled
abroad in the past year, and most have done so more than
once. Of those who travelled abroad, 11 per cent responded
that they were dissatisfied with something they had bought
during a trip abroad in the past year. This corresponds to
around 545,000 consumers. But here too, the proportion
of dissatisfied consumers is not particularly high. We can
expect a fairly large quantity of purchases to be made in
conjunction with a trip abroad, which means that 11 per
cent who are dissatisfied with any purchase on any trip
represents a low proportion of dissatisfied consumers when
spread over the total number of purchases made.
It is also the case that the companies are assigned the
greatest blame for unsuccessful purchases made abroad.
However, when making a physical purchase, it is clear that
the consumer’s own responsibility plays a considerably
greater role in their dissatisfaction than in online purchases.
Distance purchases
Made a distance purchase in the past year?
Latest purchase:
• Online: 88 %
• Mail order: 6 %
• Telephone: 6 %
Yes – 80 %
Made a distance purchase from
a company located abroad?
Latest purchase:
• Online: 96 %
• Mail order: 2 %
• Telephone: 1 %
Yes – 38 %
Dissatisfied with any online
purchase in the past year?
Yes – 16 %
No – 19 %
Been unsure whether the online
company was located abroad?
Yes – 15 %
No – 60 %
No – 82 %
Dissatisfied with latest online
purchase?
Yes – 7 %
No – 83 %
No – 92 %
Where the proportions do not add up to 100 per cent, the remainder are responses of the type “don’t know”, “don’t remember” or “neither nor”.
Physical purchases
Travelled abroad in the past year?
Yes – 72 %
Once: 38 %
More than once: 62 %
No – 28 %
Dissatisfied with any purchase
abroad in the past year?
Yes – 11 %
No – 86 %
Overall view of purchases
on the latest trip
Dissatisfied – 14 %
Satisfied – 65 %
Where the proportions do not add up to 100 per cent, the remainder are responses of the type “don’t know”, “don’t remember” or “neither nor”.
19
Goods, services and countries that
cause problems
What causes most dissatisfaction largely reflects what we
buy most. Online purchases mainly concern clothing and
footwear, electronic products, jewellery, accessories and
watches, as well as sport and leisure goods. For physical
purchases abroad, the dissatisfaction mainly concerns clothing and footwear, restaurants, cafés and bars, foodstuffs,
electronic products, jewellery, accessories, watches and
holiday accommodation.
There can be quite significant fluctuations from year to
year in the goods and services that result in the greatest
number of registered consumer problems in ECC Sweden’s
statistics. Fluctuations are often associated with specific
phenomena such as a particular company succeeding in
attracting many Swedish consumers with some dubious
offer. Volcanic eruptions, strikes or bankruptcies that
disrupt air traffic are also things that can have a great
impact. However, air travel is fairly stable at the top of
the statistics, along with furniture, natural remedies,
clothing, footwear and timeshares.
As regards air travel, the problems primarily concern
delayed or cancelled flights and denied boarding, as well
as luggage-related problems.
Many airlines are stretching the boundaries of the consumer protection regulations in how they treat consumers.
ECC Sweden’s complaint statistics are an indication that
this is the case.
Airlines are also overrepresented among those companies
that do not comply with the National Board for Consumer
Disputes’ (ARN) decisions in the consumer’s favour.
Problems with foreign companies also arrive with the
Swedish Consumer Agency in the form of complaints.
In 2013, several companies selling various slimming and
health preparations topped the statistics for complaints
to the Swedish Consumer Agency. We found it difficult to
rectify these problems as these companies were not based
in Sweden.
In our survey, consumer dissatisfaction often involves
fairly small sums. By contrast, the main focus of cases at
ECC Sweden is on more costly purchases. This is probably
because consumers have a greater incentive to try and win
their case when there are larger sums involved.
For online purchases, consumers experienced the most
dissatisfaction with companies from China, the United
Kingdom, the United States and Germany.
20
Online purchases
Proportion of purchases
involving dissatisfaction
Proportion of all purchases
30 %
Clothing and footwear
20 %
15 %
Electronic products
Jewellery, accessories or watches
Sport or leisure goods
10 %
6%
4%
5%
5%
Furniture and furnishings
4%
2%
Health products and herbal remedies
4%
2%
Personal care and beauty products
4%
3%
Holiday accommodation
3%
Books, magazines, newspapers
3%
3%
11 %
Physical purchases
Clothing and footwear
Restaurant, café or bar
Food and non-alcoholic drinks
Electronic products
Jewellery, accessories or watches
Train or bus services
Personal care and beauty products
Car rental
Alcohol
27 %
12 %
9%
9%
8%
8%
3%
3%
3%
3%
Results from our survey regarding the goods and services generating the most dissatisfaction
with online purchases and physical purchases. For online purchases, the respective product’s/
service’s proportion of all purchases is also shown. The least common goods and services are not
included, which is why the proportions do not add up to 100 per cent.
For physical purchases, dissatisfaction has mainly arisen in
Spain, Turkey, Greece and the United States. The most prominent result is that purchases from China generate a high
proportion of dissatisfied consumers in relation to how
common it is to make purchases from there.
In ECC Sweden’s statistics for 2014, the following five
countries come top in terms of complaints: Spain, the
United Kingdom, Germany, Denmark and Estonia. The
first four countries have also been fairly stable at the top
for the two preceding years. As is the case for goods and
services, otherwise there are relatively major fluctuations
due to special events.
This is where online shopping causes dissatisfaction
• Purchases for minor amounts, especially SEK 0–200, but also
SEK 201–1000.
• Purchases from companies that the consumer had not researched and that were not well known to him or her.
• Impulse purchases or purchases solely on the recommendation
of others.
• Purchases from countries outside the EU, especially China.
We may conclude that China is at present a relatively
insecure country from which to buy online.
The fact that low amounts are overrepresented among
purchases that create dissatisfaction may suggest that
consumers take more risks when making purchases for
small sums. In the focus group survey that was carried
out, several of those interviewed also described that they
reasoned in this way.
The results also suggest that the consumers’ own efforts
prior to purchase are important. Not checking up on the
foreign e-commerce company themselves appears to be
punished by a greater risk of dissatisfaction.
Proportion of purchases
involving dissatisfaction
Physical purchases
Spain
Turkey
Greece
United States
Germany
Thailand
United Kingdom
Italy
France
Denmark
Online purchases
17 %
15 %
8%
7%
6%
6%
5%
4%
Results from our survey regarding the countries generating the most dissatisfaction in
terms of physical purchases. The least common countries are not included, which is why
the proportions do not add up to 100 per cent.
14 %
14 %
United Kingdom
21 %
12 %
14 %
United States
7%
Germany
4%
3%
35 %
China
Denmark
Spain
Proportion of all purchases
13 %
6%
6%
3%
3%
Results from our survey regarding the countries generating the most dissatisfaction
in terms of online purchases, and the respective country’s proportion of all purchases.
The least common countries are not included, which is why the proportions do not add
up to 100 per cent.
21
This is why dissatisfaction arises
The most common reasons for dissatisfaction for which
companies are responsible are matters that should be
grounds for complaint. Some of the causes may suggest
that the consumer has fallen prey to an intentionally
Online purchases
The company’s fault
deceptive salesperson. The most common causes for which
consumers are themselves responsible involve impulsive
behaviour and a lack of research prior to purchase.
Faulty product/service
Incorrect information about the product/service
The product was never delivered
The product was not delivered within the time promised
The price was not consistent with that stated by the company
I received a pirated copy
The information about the terms of sale was incorrect
What I ordered was damaged upon delivery
Poorly designed information about the product/service
Unscrupulous salesperson who deceived or misled me
Wanted to cancel the purchase, but the salesperson did not accept this
The information about the terms of sale was poorly designed
Problems with payment
Online purchases
My fault
Physical purchases
The company’s fault
Physical purchases
My fault
Had not checked the information about the product/service
Differences compared with circumstances in Sweden
Impulse purchase and changed my mind
Had not checked the terms of sale carefully enough
Had not realised that it was a foreign company
Online fraud that I should have seen through
One-off purchase that turned out to be a subscription
Did not understand the information due to a different language
Faulty product/service
Incorrect information about the product/service
Poorly designed information about the product/service
Unscrupulous salesperson who deceived or misled me
The price was not consistent with that stated by the company
Did not manage to say no to a pushy salesperson
I received a pirated copy
The information about the terms of sale was incorrect
The information about the terms of sale was poorly designed
Had not checked the information about the product/service
Impulse purchase and changed my mind
Fraud that I should have seen through
Differences compared with circumstances in Sweden
Had not checked the terms of sale carefully enough
Did not understand the information due to a different language
26 %
15 %
12 %
10 %
5%
4%
4%
3%
3%
2%
2%
2%
1%
46 %
18 %
13 %
12 %
9%
7%
5%
2%
52 %
29 %
11 %
10 %
6%
5%
5%
5%
3%
44 %
40 %
15 %
11 %
7%
5%
Results from our survey regarding the causes of dissatisfaction for online purchases and physical purchases, and for both these categories, also broken down by causes that consumers considered to be the company’s responsibility and their own responsibility. Several
response options could be given, which is why the proportions do not add up to 100 per cent.
22
How do you solve problems?
Things sometimes go wrong; this is almost impossible to
avoid. But when this does happen, it is important that there are opportunities to get everything resolved. We asked
what those who were dissatisfied did.
Online purchases
Never tried to contact the company to resolve the problem
Made contact with the company
33 %
50 %
18 %
Tried and failed to make
contact with the company
Physical purchases
Made contact with the company
20 %
Tried and failed to make
contact with the company
9%
Never tried to contact the company
to resolve the problem
71 %
Where the figures do not add up to 100 per cent, this is due to the effects of rounding.
There are many consumers who never tried to contact the
company. The reasons for this vary (see the diagram), but the
most common is that it did not involve that much money.
Reason for not trying to contact the company was …
Online purchases
62 %
63 %
It did not involve that much money
22 %
I find it hard to complain
15 %
16 %
18 %
Knew that I did not have the right to return/exchange the item
I was unable to find time to pursue a complaint
I did not know the language
Other
Physical purchases
9%
6%
3%
8%
17 %
14 %
More than one possible response could be given, which is why the proportions do not
add up to 100 per cent.
23
Thus, in about 40 per cent of the cases, dissatisfaction
with an online purchase still manages to be resolved to the
satisfaction of the consumer. For physical purchases, this
proportion is only 25 per cent. But the majority remain
dissatisfied. Just over 50 per cent of dissatisfied online
shoppers and almost 75 per cent of dissatisfied overseas
travellers do not try or do not succeed in getting their
unsuccessful purchase resolved. This translates to about
180,000 and about 400,000 consumers, respectively, who
are affected by at least one such instance of unresolved
dissatisfaction each year. This may be compared with the
3,000–4,000 complaints handled annually by ECC Sweden.
Online purchases
My complaints are ongoing
7%
Satisfactorily resolved
39 %
54 %
Not satisfactorily resolved
Physical purchases
My complaints are ongoing
1%
Satisfactorily resolved
25 %
Not satisfactorily resolved
73 %
Where the figures do not add up to 100 per cent, this is due to the effects of rounding.
One basic requirement for a grievance being resolved is
that the consumer takes some form of initiative. The most
important thing is to turn to the company in order to try
to achieve a solution. We can see that many consumers do
not even take this step. The most common reason for this
passivity is that people do not consider it to be worth the
hassle, given the small amount of money involved. One
in four dissatisfied consumers mentioned the problem to
family and friends or on social media. However, as few as
two and three per cent, respectively, made contact with
ECC Sweden or local consumer advisers. This may suggest
that more consumers would make use of the qualified help
available, if only they were aware of its existence.
ECC Sweden’s experience is that relatively few consumers
are aware of the opportunities they have for what is
known as chargeback. This means getting a refund when
the purchase has been made using the consumer’s credit or
debit card. For credit card purchases, the opportunity for
a refund is statutory, while for debit card purchases, there
may be opportunities for a refund depending on the card
issuer’s terms and conditions. However, these opportunities only exist if consumers can demonstrate that the
company is clearly not complying with current regulations.
24
Fifty-four per cent paid by debit card, 17 per cent by
Paypal or a similar service and 15 per cent by credit
card in their latest online purchase from an e-commerce
company located abroad.
Consumers can go through the courts or through
alternative forms of dispute resolution in order to have
their complaint examined. The European small claims
procedure is a court proceeding intended to both simplify
and speed up the resolution of disputes involving a small
sums and that are cross-border. Unfortunately it is ECC
Sweden’s experience, however, that this possibility is
unfamiliar to consumers.
In Sweden, the National Board for Consumer Disputes
(ARN) is the alternative dispute resolution body to which
consumers can turn. We assess ARN to be relatively well
known and accessible to consumers, but it is not certain
that this route works for consumers trying to pursue their
case against a company in another country. ARN only
takes on cases against foreign companies when there is
a strong connection to Sweden.
The opportunity to receive help from an alternative
dispute resolution body in the company’s country might
be limited because not all countries have such bodies.
To shop cross-border or not
Many people feel insecure when shopping abroad, among
them those who know little about their rights. The same
applies to online purchases from actors located abroad.
There, as many as 20–40 per cent are hesitant when, or
completely against, buying from online companies located
abroad. Besides uncertainty regarding rights, this cautious attitude is also largely due to concerns about fraud
and the hijacking of card details. But our survey shows
that few consumers actually encounter fraud. However,
problems with crime do exist and often receive media attention. Sometimes, we at the Swedish Consumer Agency
and ECC Sweden also issue warnings about unscrupulous
actors. To increase confidence in cross-border e-commerce,
it is important for society to be able to limit the number of
instances of fraud.
Feel secure when purchasing
Agree
Disagree
11 %
From Swedish companies online
From foreign companies online
From foreign companies when physically abroad
60 %
53 %
13 %
37 %
24 %
Feel informed about consumer rights when purchasing
Agree
Disagree
18 %
From Swedish companies online
From foreign companies online
64 %
8%
6%
In stores in Sweden
From foreign companies when staying abroad
47 %
70 %
73 %
6%
Where the proportions do not add up to 100 per cent, the remainder are responses of the type “don’t know”, “don’t recall”, “neither nor” or the like.
The problems in summary
The most prominent problems in no particular
order:
• Consumers do not take advantage of the opportunities presented by cross-border online shopping.
• Consumers buy goods and services that turn out to be wrong,
with pre-purchase information that turns out to be incorrect..
• Late or non-delivery
• Poor compliance with regulations by airlines, and poor compliance with ARN decisions.
• Fraud
• Consumers do not try to resolve problems.
• Lack of opportunities for consumers to get support to pursue
complaints
The first point is not really a consumer problem in the
normal sense, but rather a missed opportunity.
25
Success factors for avoiding dissatisfaction
Read terms and
conditions carefully
before purchasing.
Here are the five best tips for online purchases and
physical purchases abroad from the consumers in our
survey. The most important thing is to get information and
not to make impulse purchases.
Success factors
Online purchases
Read the website carefully (terms and conditions etc.)
Check out the company, (e.g. address, e-mail)
Only purchase where the payment solution is credible
Pay by credit card, greater chance of getting your money back
Avoid buying really expensive goods/services
47 %
43 %
43 %
22 %
20 %
Physical purchases
Keep track of what the cost of the equivalent product or service in Sweden
Avoid impulse purchases
Check the good or service more carefully
Avoid buying really expensive goods/services
Be extra careful when communicating with the salesperson
52 %
44 %
39 %
36 %
26 %
More than one possible response could be given, which is why the proportions do not add up to 100 per cent.
Should someone do something?
We see that there is a need to be able to support
consumers in their purchases outside the EU, and this
is something that falls outside of ECC Sweden’s remit.
Physical purchases abroad are a form of cross-border
trade that has existed for a long time and where we do not
expect any major changes in the future. For this reason, we
content ourselves here to propose initiatives in the area of
communication with consumers. What we see is that consumer knowledge is the main way to improve the situation.
The focus of the measures proposed by the Swedish
Consumer Agency therefore lies on online cross-border
trade. This is a purchase channel that many Swedish consumers have not yet begun to make serious use of and
where we assess developments might proceed quickly.
There is an urgent need to prevent a sharp increase in the
number of problems and to create better conditions for
dealing with the problems that arise.
Successful enforcement actions against companies that
create problems can provide greater security, as well as
self-regulation in the industry. It can be difficult for society
26
to deploy measures against the shortcomings of companies
with respect to defective goods, delivery problems and the
like. Here it is rather a question of competition, where the
companies that avoid creating problems for consumers
will hopefully be those that take an increasing share of
the market. However, when problems arise, it is important
that these are handled appropriately by consumers and
companies. It is important that there is easily accessible
information for consumers, and also that companies are
well aware of the rights consumers have and of their
own obligations.
There are also unscrupulous actors who have no
interest in having satisfied consumers. There is an urgent
need for effective initiatives from both government
agencies and reputable companies to rid the market of
unscrupulous actors. It is also good if consumers learn
how they, as far as possible, can avoid falling prey to such
companies. The presence of unscrupulous actors is a
factor that deters consumers from taking advantage of
cross-border e-commerce.
The Swedish Consumer Agency’s proposals
for action
We see six ways to improve the conditions for Swedish
consumers purchasing from companies that are located
abroad:
• Raising consumer awareness through communication efforts,
as well as providing better access to information about what to
do if something goes wrong.
• Imposing the same strict rules for consumer protection within
the EU.
• Carrying out enforcement efforts in which authorities cooperate
across borders.
• Strengthening the Swedish Consumer Agency’s opportunities to
act against online retailers who do not follow consumer protection regulations.
In addition to these measures, we would also like the Government to work to ensure the proposed Common European Sales Law is not implemented in the EU.
Consumer awareness and access to information
Communication efforts targeting consumers can achieve at
least three effects:
• Consumers are aware of the positive opportunities of crossborder shopping.
• Consumers are better equipped in terms of knowledge prior to
their purchases and can avoid mistakes more easily.
• Consumers who encounter problems can find information on
what they can do to try to resolve the problem.
• Improving conditions for consumers to pursue complaints and
disputes.
• Encouraging the industry to implement its own measures.
27
Our experience shows that far too few consumers actively
seek information prior to a purchase. A successful means
of reaching them might be to implement initiatives in
contexts where consumers are involved on cross-border
purchases. This might, for example, consist in information
at the airport or information on price comparison websites.
At the same time, there is a major challenge in reaching
out to virtually the entire Swedish population with a message about how to avoid making purchasing mistakes.
No matter how well informed consumers are, it is
inevitable that things will sometimes go wrong. When the
consumer has identified a problem that needs resolving,
the inclination to look for information increases. It is then
important for consumers to be able to find information on
the options available depending on the complaint in question, where to turn and what they should bear in mind.
ECC Sweden already has a lot of this kind of information
on its website and has long experience of personal advice
by phone, e-mail and live chat. With the Swedish Consumer
Agency’s new guidance service Hallå konsument in place,
there are now enhanced opportunities to provide both
web information and personal advice regarding purchases,
even from countries outside the EU.
Accessible information on the opportunities that exist to
pursue a complaint and what support is available is essential.
The same rules for consumer protection within the EU
The fact that the EU’s consumer protection regulations
are not fully harmonised means that the legislation
ifferers from country to country. This makes it difficult
for consumers, companies and government agencies to
navigate cross-border trade. Besides simplifying matters
for both consumers and companies, the same rules would
also provide better conditions for enforcement cooperation
within the EU. The Swedish Consumer Agency’s proposal
entails the Government pursuing this line in its EU cooperation. However, it is important that the pursuit of harmonisation takes place at a level that yields a high degree of
consumer protection.
28
Authorities cooperate on enforcement across borders
The fact that the companies are located outside Sweden
means that Swedish authorities are not normally able to
turn to the companies directly.
We are dependent on cooperation with foreign authorities
to resolve the problems. Of course, it is also important
that the authorities have the opportunity to act in a way
that resolves the problems.
There are a number of measures that could improve the
situation for enforcement:
Development of international cooperation
at the global level
We welcome the opportunities to deepen enforcement
cooperation against cross-border consumer problems
under the auspices of ICPEN (International Consumer
Protection and Enforcement Network). There are both
general opportunities within the network as a whole and
opportunities to make agreements between countries that
see major benefits in closer cooperation. We plan to pursue
this issue within the context of our participation in ICPEN.
Development of the EU’s Consumer Protection
Cooperation (CPC)
It is important to work continuously to make European
enforcement cooperation more effective. There are two
main areas that we believe urgently require improvement.
One is rectification of the current weakness in the system
whereby multinational actors with branch offices in different countries cannot be tackled jointly by several countries
through CPC (Consumer Protection Cooperation, a network of enforcement authorities monitoring compliance
with consumer protection legislation in the EU). The other
concerns cooperation on the formal requirements that different countries have for being able to act on reports from
other countries. Unfortunately, it is not uncommon today
for cooperation get stuck when an authority reporting a
case fails to meet some formal requirement.
New stronger tools for the Swedish Consumer Agency
We currently feel that there are some limitations to our
enforcement work. We would like new opportunities in
cases where actors are operating in legal grey areas or in
cases resembling fraud.
One such example is a website marketing a product
that is much cheaper than what it normally is in stores.
Consumers are enticed to place an order and, in some cases,
especially in the beginning, the product is delivered. When
the customer flow then increases, deliveries cease, but consumers do not get their money back. When the case is investigated, the people behind the website are often difficult
to locate, and where we do manage to track them down,
they are often in a country outside the EU. Here, the usual
method of enforcement and fines is ineffective in remedying
the problem and protecting consumers.
The Swedish Consumer Agency sees a need to investigate
alternative tools for effective enforcement in these problematic
cases as well. For example, we would like to block websites
whose sales are, for good reason, deemed to contravene
consumer protection legislation. The development of such
methods is currently underway in an ICPEN project.
Consumers’ options for pursuing complaints and disputes
In cases where companies are not prepared to meet consumers’ legitimate demands, it is important for there to
be effective ways for the consumer to pursue their claims
against companies in other countries.
The chief option for the consumer is alternative dispute
resolution. Our hope is that this will function well for
trade within the EU from 2016. All Member States are to
have established dispute resolution bodies by this time,
and there is to be an easily accessible online service for
consumers. The European Commission will have the role
of monitoring that this is actually realised. However, there
are reasons to believe that this route to dispute resolution
will continue to have limitations. Firstly, the rulings of
dispute resolution bodies are not mandatory for companies
and, secondly, in some countries, it is optional for companies
even to be affiliated. For disputes with companies in the
rest of the world, there is a service to consumers via the
website econsumer.gov, but the extent to which this is used
by Swedish consumers is not known.
There are also opportunities for Swedish consumers to
pursue their case through the courts under the European
small claims procedure and according to the EU Regulation
on the recognition and enforcement of judgements in civil
and commercial matters. Our assessment is that these
opportunities need to become more familiar to consumers
because they are very rarely used. The Swedish Consumer
Agency and ECC Sweden can, in cooperation with the
Swedish National Courts Administration, make this information more easily accessible to consumers via the new
information service Hallå konsument.
Encouraging the industry to take action
Another way to get to grips with companies that are
unscrupulous or do not comply with current regulations is
for the industry itself to deal with the problems. Reputable
actors have a lot to gain from curbing unscrupulous ones.
Trust labelling initiatives are an example of what the
industry has already done. Another example is the major
Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba, which devoted
substantial resources to clearing pirated products from its
range in 2013–2014.
We and other consumer protection bodies can use
various means to encourage this type of initiative. ECC
Sweden has released materials for Swedish e-commerce
companies containing tips on the consumer protection rules they have to follow. The materials have been developed
jointly within the ECC network, i.e. ECC Sweden and its
counterparts in other EU countries. ECC Sweden also continues to partner with industry organisations in the area.
We also see opportunities to work together with major
global actors such as Google and Facebook in international consumer protection cooperation in order to obstruct
unscrupulous actors.
Avoid making the rules more complicated
When deploying measures to counteract consumer
problems, it is important that these measures do not create
more problems than they resolve. We see problems with the
Common European Sales Law proposed by the European
Commission. The introduction of this law would in practice
mean that consumers, dispute resolution bodies, authorities
and traders might be applying different provisions to the
same situation. Consumers will be faced with a situation
where different rules are applied to the same products or
services. We do not view the Common European Sales Law
as a good solution to the problems that exist for consumers
in cross-border trade. For this reason, we propose that
the Government works to ensure this is not introduced.
We would instead like the European market to be primarily
promoted by means of the same rules, known as full harmonisation, with a high level of consumer protection.
What we believe about the future
It is always associated with uncertainty to try to predict
how things will develop in the future. We envisage that
most cross-border purchases will actually go well.
Consumers who take advantage of the range offered by
the internet will become more used to this, while many
companies will make efforts to attract consumers with
good terms and conditions.
At the same time, our assessment is that the problems might gradually become greater as more and more people buy
increasing quantities over the internet, also from e-commerce
companies based in other countries. There is a certain risk of
a rapid development with the emergence of many unscrupulous actors who create problems for Swedish consumers.
It is partly for this reason urgent to monitor
developments, both in Sweden and in other countries. Since
we have seen several cases of unscrupulous actors moving
their activities between countries, it is important to have
good international contacts and cooperation.
29
THE CONSUMER
SITUATION
IN DIFFERENT
MARKETS
31
READING GUIDE
The following is a guide to the description of the situation for consumers in
different markets. As mentioned earlier, the Swedish Consumer Report attempts to identify markets with various types of consumer problems. The
method consists of four parts.
1 Consumer conditions in different markets
This part reflects consumer conditions prior to a purchase.
The analysis of conditions has been conducted based on
four factors: transparency, trust, choice and behaviour. The
knowledge base for this part is an annual questionnaire
survey commissioned by the Swedish Consumer Agency
and which we call the Consumer Market Survey (CMS).
To give an overall picture of consumer conditions based
on the four factors, we report the results in the form of an
index that we call the Consumer Markets Index (CMI).
2 Unsuccessful purchases
Sometimes consumers feel afterwards that their purchasing
choices were not successful. This is where we map how
often this occurs in various markets. One of the things we
use for this is complaint statistics.
3 The significance of markets for household finances
We thus use the concept of situation in a broader sense
than the conditions we are studying in the first part. We
weigh the unsuccessful purchases and the financial significance. The aggregated results lead to a list of the markets
we deem to be the most problematic.
2
1
3
The results presented in this part show how great a financial significance different markets have for households.
The evidence used includes statistics from Statistics Sweden.
4 Aggregated results
All the results are finally appraised in an overall assessment of the situation for consumers in different markets.
32
4
The most problematic markets
Discussion
Our method according to the four steps on the previous
page leads to a list of the markets which the Swedish
Consumer Agency deems to be the most problematic for
consumers. We begin the section by going directly to these
markets and discussing them. The results showing how
we use the four steps to identify the particular markets in
question are presented in the following section.
In the two previous editions of the Swedish Consumer
Report, we have presented a list of the ten most problematic
markets. We also do this here, but we go one step further and
focus particularly on the four most problematic of these:
In this discussion section, we try to provide a detailed
picture of the markets and segments identified as the most
problematic by the results from our analysis model. The
detailed discussion mainly covers three areas:
• Under the headings Problematic conditions, Complaints and in-
formation requirements and Financial significance we describe
what the problems consist of.
• Under the headings Problematic conditions and Complaints and
information requirements we discuss why the market creates
such problems.
• Under the headings What is happening in the industry?, Initiatives from society and The Swedish Consumer Agency’s assessments we discuss what is being done, is not being done, and
perhaps should be done by various actors to improve conditions
for consumers.
• Telecommunications services (fixed telephony, mobile telephony,
internet and TV)
• Insurance (personal/family, house/home)
• Banking and financial services (investments/pensions, personal loans/credit cards)
We do not go so far as to make new concrete proposals
for action to tackle the problems that exist, but rather provide a more general discussion of needs and opportunities.
• Legal services (in the event of, for example, divorce, estate inventory, tax issues, financial disputes, judicial proceedings and
the like)
Compilation of complaints and enquiries
This table summarises the picture of cases concerning
complaints and matters involving pre-purchase information and the like. The figures are for 2014, and case numbers have been rounded.
Local consumer advisers
(Konstat)
Telecommunications
Advice bureau
Number of
cases
Proportion of
total
Proportion
complaints
National Board for
Consumer Disputes (ARN)
Number of
cases
Proportion
complaints
Number of
cases
Proportion of
total
13 000
15 %
87 %
8 000
84 %
600
6%
Insurance
3 000
4%
68 %
12 000
52 %
900
8%
Banking/financial
2 000
2%
63 %
5 000
50 %
400
3%
400
0,4 %
69 %
-
-
11
0,1 %
Legal services
THE CONSUMER SITUATION IN DIFFERENT MARKETS
33
TELECOMMUNICATIONS
The four markets within telecommunications: subscriptions for fixed
telephony, mobile telephony, internet and television, have now remained
at the bottom of the CMI list for three consecutive years and continue
to generate large volumes of complaints from consumers.
Problematic conditions
There are many factors which, according to our results,
our experience and our assessment, create problematic
conditions for consumers in the area of telecommunications. To some extent, these involve matters that are
general to several of the four markets, while some factors
are specific to one of them. One general factor is that consumers do not trust the salespeople. Here, all four markets
are at the very bottom of the 45 markets we are looking
at. The complaint statistics lead us to conclude that one
cause of the low level of trust might be the sales methods
used have a questionable character. Another general factor
34
is transparency, difficulties in getting an overview of the
alternatives and in forming an opinion about what a good
choice is based on the needs an individual consumer or a
family may have. The great variety of different types of
subscription, commitment periods, channel packages, etc.
is extensive, and it is also common for these services to be
bundled. For the internet and mobile telephony, the picture is a little more positive in terms of access to independent information and the extent to which consumers feel
informed prior to purchase.
Complaints and information requirements
If we look at cases in which consumers sought help,
several of these markets remain high in the statistics of
consumer advisers and the National Board for Consumer
Disputes (ARN). In statistics from Konstat – which registers the majority of cases at local consumer advisers – the
telecoms sector accounted for nearly 15 per cent of all
cases. Eighty-seven per cent were complaints. If we look
at the individual sub-markets, all but TV subscriptions are
in the top ten in the list of complaints. At ARN, telephony
services and internet subscriptions accounted for approximately 6 per cent of the total number of cases. Telephony
services came in fourth place for markets with the most
cases. The advice bureau, Swedish Telecom Advisors, also
receives many cases, of which 84 per cent were complaints
in 2014. A table with an overview of case statistics for the
four most problematic markets is found on page 33.
The results of our CMS survey show that the markets in
the telecoms sector have the highest proportion of consumers
who act upon their dissatisfaction and make a complaint
to the company. For fixed telephony, there have been a
number of operators whose sales methods have created
problems for many consumers. Several of these operators
have also been the subject of enforcement action on the
part of the Swedish Consumer Agency. These were mainly
minor actors that are not affiliated with Swedish Telecom
Advisors and that use the channel of telesales. These
account for a few percentage points of the market, but for
just over half of all fixed telephony complaints to Swedish
Telecom Advisors. Such cases include consumers becoming
a customer of an operator against their will and receiving
inadequate or incorrect information about the right of
cancellation, commitment periods or fees in connection
with a change of operator. The same is also demonstrated
by the large number of complaints to the Swedish Post
and Telecom Authority (PTS). PTS’s statistics show that
inappropriate marketing was the most common complaint
in 2014, principally problems in connection with telesales,
and that subscribers change operators against their will.
There are also problems with these operators targeting
people – often the elderly – who are passive business
owners and selling them subscriptions for fixed telephony.
The operator then claims that a business subscription has
been agreed, which according to the operator means that
the consumer has no right to cancel.
Telecommunications services
Mobile broadband 13 %
Mobile telephony 32 %
Fixed broadband 15 %
TV 19 %
Fixed telephony 21 %
Case statistics from Swedish Telecom Advisors (complaints and other cases)
The complaints following sales in shops include consumers
receiving verbal promises that do not subsequently correspond with the written agreements they have signed.
Some consumers also feel misled when they are offered
purchase on approval in the store. Several consumers turning to Swedish Telecom Advisors say that the packaging
had been opened in the shop by, or at the instigation of,
the salesperson. Consumers have then not been informed
that this means that they lose the right to the offer of
purchase on approval. Problems can also arise for consumers who want to complain about a purchase made at
a retail outlet and are referred back and forth between
the retailer’s and the operator’s customer services. As
regards the different sales methods, cases on home sales
have increased in proportion most with Swedish Telecom
Advisors, by as much as 74 per cent in 2014 compared
with 2013. However, it is still the sales method that they
receive the least number of cases about in total. It is
primarily TV subscriptions and fibre connections that
are sold in this way.
There are cases with Swedish Telecom Advisors that
indicate operators, or their customer services, do not
always have knowledge of the new rules that came into
force in June 2014. What consumers have complained
about is that they had received incorrect information on
the right of cancellation.
35
For internet services, transfer speeds have been a problem
area where many consumers have turned to Swedish
Telecom Advisors and complained that they have not
received the speed they ordered. In some cases, this is an
information problem, where dissatisfaction might be
rooted in consumers using the internet wirelessly via a
router in their home. This means that the transfer speed
of the consumer’s primary internet connection can be in
accordance with what subscription covers, but the speed
which the consumer experiences after the wireless transfer
is significantly lower.
As regards TV subscriptions, the problems received by
Swedish Telecom Advisors often concern the commitment
period, for example, that consumers remain obligated to
pay for a service after a move, even though they might not
have access to that particular operator in their new home.
Complaints about changes to channel packages are also
common.
Financial significance
In terms of household finances, the three telecoms markets
of fixed and mobile telephony and internet together accounted for 2.8 per cent of total household expenditure in
the period October 2013 to September 2014. This was just
below the limit of 3 per cent that our aggregated results
consider a major financial significance overall. Adding expenditures for TV subscriptions, which cannot be inferred
from Statistics Sweden’s statistics, it is possible that this
limit would have been passed.
What is happening in the industry?
The telecoms sector is a rapidly developing industry in
which a lot of new things are happening for consumers.
There are new generations of mobile networks, fibre deployment, apps replacing text messages, streaming services
as an alternative to TV, IP telephony as an alternative to
fixed telephony, and so on. The boundaries between the
different sub-markets are becoming more fluid.
The Swedish Telecom Advisors report a development
where the major operators are terminating agreements
with retail outlets that are less scrupulous in their sales
methods.
Initiatives from society
One change that the Swedish Consumer Agency is hoping
for is the industry agreement that we, PTS and the Swedish
Telecom Advisors developed in 2014 together with the mobile operators that own networks. The agreement covers
the marketing of coverage for mobile services. The operators undertake, among other things, to ensure that their
coverage maps provide a more accurate and true picture of
the coverage that consumers may expect. The agreement
36
also aims to make it easier for consumers to compare
offers from the different operators.
Another development that might contribute to improving consumer conditions is a project being carried out
by PTS since 2014. This aims to curb unscrupulous and
unethical sales methods, a consumer problem that has
long been known, but that increased in 2013 and 2014.
The project primarily intends to bring about a voluntary
industry solution whereby the network-owning operators
undertake to ensure that all operators in their networks
apply reputable and ethical sales methods. The project is
based on guidelines from Swedish Telecom Advisors defining what are reputable and ethical sales methods. There
is a consensus among the network-owning operators in the
Swedish telecoms market that unscrupulous and unethical
sales are a serious problem that affects individuals and
especially elderly people and that it damages the industry’s
reputation and credibility. It is something that affects everyone in the industry. The result of the work is expected to
be completed by mid-2015 at the latest.
Before 2002, the Telecommunications Act of the time
included the opportunity to require permits for entering
the telecoms market and selling services to consumers.
Today, there is no legislation that makes it possible to place
such requirements for market entry. Since the problems
with the unethical marketing of telecoms services have
long been known, PTS has in various contexts, both
nationally and within the EU, expressed the need for stricter legislation to protect consumers from these problems.
The deployment of broadband to houses in Sweden
is taking place at a rapid pace. It can be difficult for an
individual homeowner to know whether an offer of a
broadband connection is good. In order for consumers to
feel secure with the information and the terms provided,
the Government’s Swedish Broadband Forum has appointed
a group to work on improving communication in the
market for broadband to houses. The group is due to
present a final report in May 2015.
The Swedish Consumer Agency’s assessments
There is an urgent need for implementation of the Swedish
Consumer Agency’s proposals in the 2014 Swedish Consumer Report regarding telesales, since these sales create
problems, not least in terms of subscriptions for fixed
telephony. The two proposals are a requirement on active
consent to telesales as such, and a requirement on written
contract confirmation.
Quite a lot of the problems are rooted in consumers
having unrealistic expectations based on the marketing of
services. It is important that operators take their responsibility to reduce the gap in expectations, for example, as
regards coverage. There is also an urgent need for the mar-
keting of services to be done in a way that makes it easier
for consumers to take it in, thus simplifying comparison
between different services. It is important that marketing
does not flood the consumer with information, especially
if it is complicated and technical. There may be a need of
simplification if consumers are to be able to choose. At
the same time, consumers still need to understand various
aspects of the purchase, and important information should
not be withheld.
In the case of TV and internet subscriptions, it is not
always possible for consumers to choose the operator they
want since a multi-family building can be bound to an
operator selected by the property owner or housing cooperative. This limits consumer choice. At the same time, it
may be that a property owner or housing cooperative has
greater buyer power than the individual apartment owner
and can therefore negotiate more favourable terms.
In connection with a meeting of the Nordic Consumer
Ombudsmen in March 2012, a joint press release stated
that the maximum commitment period for electronic communication services should be six months. The Swedish
Consumer Agency would also like to see a development
towards giving consumers greater opportunity than today
to choose telecoms services without any commitment period at all.
When problems arise for the consumer, the operators’
customer service is important. As a first step, the availability of customer service is important, both in terms
of opening hours and waiting times. As a next step, the
competence of customer service staff is important. As we
mentioned earlier, it is not acceptable for consumers to be
given incorrect information by a customer service. We also
deem it important for companies to view customer service
as a central part of their relationship with consumers, both
when they have their own customer service staff and when
that service is outsourced. There is an urgent need for
companies to stimulate not only their sales efforts but also
their customer service in order to promote good customer
management. Without this, it may be difficult to achieve
long-term customer satisfaction.
In its 2014 telecoms report, the Swedish Quality Index
notes that the companies’ customer contacts maintain a
high level in connection with a change of subscription,
change of mobile or purchase of other services. However,
when customers have complaints, their experience of how
these are handled is significantly worse.
Companies have much to gain from handling complaints
better. It is clear that good complaint handling will enable
actors to reduce the proportion of customers planning
to switch supplier. The Norwegian counterparts to the
Consumer Ombudsman and PTS have drawn up customer
service guidelines in consultation with the industry.
In summary
• There is an urgent need for implementation of the Swedish Consumer Agency’s proposals in the 2014 Swedish
Consumer Report regarding telesales, since these sales
create problems, not least in terms of subscriptions for
fixed telephony.
• The two proposals are a requirement on active consent to
telesales as such, and a requirement for written confirmation of contracts.
• It is important that operators take responsibility for
reducing the gap between expectations and reality, for
example, as regards coverage.
• There is an urgent need for the marketing of services to
be done in a way that makes it easier for consumers to
take it in, thus simplifying comparison between different
services.
• It is important that the operators’ customer services are
given priority, have good competence and high availability in terms of opening hours and waiting times.
• The maximum commitment period for electronic communication services should be six months. In addition, it
would be positive if consumers were given greater opportunity than today to choose telecommunications services
without any commitment period at all.
37
INSURANCE
Within the insurance segment, house/home insurance and personal/family insurance
are the markets we identify as particularly problematic.
Home insurance covers the dwelling itself and the
consumer’s belongings – known as personal property – but
normally also includes elements such as liability insurance,
legal protection, personal assault coverage and travel
insurance. We have taken the term personal and family insurance to include personal accident, pregnancy, child, pet,
income, health and life insurance. We are aware that this is
not the usual description in the insurance industry. Vehicle
insurance also comes in the lower part of the CMI list, but
we have not included it here among the most problematic
markets. The reason for this is that consumers saw their
conditions as being clearly better when taking out vehicle
insurance than on the two other insurance markets. In
some respects, however, vehicle insurance also has a similar set of problems.
Our survey of the conditions for consumers shows that
they generally find it difficult to understand the meaning
38
of different alternatives on the insurance markets and also
to compare them. For those consumers who are really determined, there are conditions for acquiring the necessary
information. Unfortunately, few consumers have the time
and competence required. The result is a lack of knowledge regarding what they are getting for their money.
Consumers with insurance problems do not turn so
often to the local consumer adviser. By contrast, house
and home insurance is among the top 10 at ARN. About
8 per cent of the total number of ARN cases in 2014
concerned insurance. In Konstat, the total number of cases
concerning insurance services reached almost 4 per cent of
all cases. The proportion of complaints was 68 per cent.
Every year, the Swedish Consumers Insurance Bureau
receives a relatively large number of cases, of which 52
per cent were complaints in 2014. If we compare the
proportion of complaints with the Telecom market, we
Insurance
Animals, product, etc. 11 %
Travel 13 %
Personal injury 7 %
Adult health and personal accident 11 %
Child and pregnancy 7 %
Vehicle 14 %
Life, pension and endowment 11 %
Accommodation 26 %
Case statistics from the Swedish Consumers Insurance Bureau (complaints and other cases)
can see that this is clearly lower on the insurance market,
both for consumer advisers and advice bureaus. In other
words, it is more common for consumers to seek help with
matters other than complaints on the insurance market.
This may suggest problems with pre-purchase information
and understanding the content. A table with an overview
of case statistics for the four most problematic markets is
found on page 33.
In the Insurance Bureau’s statistics, we can see that
insurance of the type house and home insurance has the
largest proportion of cases, 26 per cent. This is followed
by vehicle insurance with 14 per cent and travel insurance
with 13 per cent.
Most cases concern insurance of the type house and
home insurance and the like. In this category, the Insurance
Bureau receives most complaints about the valuation
of property. How insurance companies calculate depreciations due to age and modernity is something that is
particularly challenged. Other valuation issues concern
televisions, mobile phones and bicycles. Questions of
evidence also recur constantly. Consumers experience that
they are not believed by the insurance company when they
have been subjected to robbery or burglary. For consumers
who have been customers for a longer period, disappointment might arise and they feel that “the insurance does
not apply when you need to use it for once”.
For house insurance, most complaints to the bureau concern claims adjustment and compensation in connection
with leakage damage. Consumers think the contractor or
tradesman is doing things wrongly or doing too little when
the damage is being rectified. They might also think that
action is being taken too late and that the age deduction
made by the companies is too high. Often, the problems
are rooted in a lack of communication as there are at least
three parties involved: the consumer, the tradesman and
the insurance company.
According to the Swedish Consumers Insurance Bureau,
many complaints are due to the insurance companies
failing to explain their decisions in a way that consumers
understand. When consumers are dissatisfied with the
company’s decision, they have the right to a written decision.
However, it is not always easy for consumers to obtain a
written decision even though they have requested one.
Companies might also fail to inform their customers about
the avenues that exist for appealing against a decision.
Another more general explanation for the complaints
may be that consumer expectations often do not match
the protection provided by the insurance under its terms
and conditions. Because the information on the terms and
conditions can be difficult to absorb, consumers proceed
on the basis of what they think is reasonable and logical
without having read what the terms actually state. There
is an extra great risk of this with respect to the group insurance that consumers have the opportunity to take out
for a favourable price through their trade union or other
organisation. A certain role can also be played by price
comparison services and insurance brokers, where great
emphasis is placed on the cost of insurance premiums and
less on content.
Although many complaints to the Swedish Consumers
Insurance Bureau concern the companies’ handling of
consumer claims, measurements from the Swedish Quality
Index show that consumers are, on average, more satisfied
with their insurance company after a claim than before it.
This may suggest that the problems associated with the
handling of claims are not widespread on the whole.
Swedish Consumer Report 2013 also highlighted the
results from surveys carried out by the Swedish Consumer
Agency in 2010. These showed that consumers generally
experience choosing insurance as difficult to understand
and tedious, thus leading to a low level of interest and
relatively low mobility. It is easy for consumers to remain
with their existing insurance company year after year.
The threshold for trying to compare the alternatives on
the market in order to look for the best possible choice is
39
If we put together vehicle, house/home and personal/family insurance, they constitute just under 1.5 per cent of
household expenditure. This is the same order of expenditure as for car repairs and package and charter holidays. In
the event of the insurance needing to be used, the financial
significance for consumers can be very great. Being completely without insurance when something serious happens, such as a house fire or an accident on a trip outside
the EU involving an injury requiring hospital treatment,
can be financially devastating. Wrong decisions when
choosing insurance can result in very noticeable financial
consequences for the consumer.
Quite a lot of changes are taking place in the insurance
market. There are now often several variants of insurance,
such as basic, medium, large or similar designations.
A new product is identity protection and an insurance
against net hate. Identity protection is also gradually
being added to the major companies’ home insurance.
Home insurance has also become a more diversified
product with several supplements to the basic protection
that was previously more extensive.
A number of niche insurance companies are also emerging. Some target specific customer groups and give them
a better price, while others might operate with an environmental profile.
The Swedish Consumer Agency assesses a growing trend
on the insurance market to be that insurance companies
are using channels other than their own company to sell
insurance. Today, such solutions where product, insurance
and perhaps also financing are linked together cover far
more than electronic products and cars, for which these
solutions have long been common. Offers of this kind also
occur in insurance for experiences, such as travel, events
and ski rental.
The Swedish Consumers Insurance Bureau has long
performed independent comparisons of the insurance
of different companies and provides around 30 of these
in-depth comparisons. More recently, they have begun
an initiative to award points to insurance content based
on various aspects of the insurance. Sometimes, price
information is also included and sometimes satisfaction
assessments in the form of results from the Swedish
Quality Index. The positive aspect to these comparisons
is that consumers can feel secure that no financial selfinterest is involved. In February 2015, such comparisons
were available for child, car, home and house insurance.
Comparisons of insurance content are intended to serve
as a counterweight to the rather one-sided focus on price
that is prevalent on this market. The assessment of the
Swedish Consumers Insurance Bureau is that their comparisons are influencing product development towards a
better insurance content.
The fact that consumers find it difficult and tedious to
make choices on the insurance market has resulted in several
40
commercial actors offering online services to compare and
take out insurance. There are also telesales for such services.
The industry organisation Insurance Sweden issued
its own report in 2013 which identified a number of
deficiencies in today’s consumer information in the insurance area. Among other things, the report indicates that
although consumers receive relatively extensive information, it is not always information that he or she is able
to absorb. It is also not always easy for the consumer to
distinguish between what is information and what is
marketing. The distinction between what is independent
and what is commercial information is not always obvious. The report gives proposals on what the industry can
itself do to make things easier for consumers and so create
greater confidence in the industry. Some examples are that
insurance companies can provide information in an easy
to read format, increasingly translate information material
into the major immigrant languages, and clearly structure
their websites so that consumers can more easily distinguish between marketing and factual information. There
are also proposals addressing other actors.
Insurance Sweden has also revised its recommendation
on pre-purchase information. The new recommendation
was adopted in October 2014 and enters into force on 1
May 2015. This should lead to pre-purchase information
from different insurance companies becoming more uniform and consumers finding it easier to compare products.
In addition to questions about consumer information,
the industry organisation is also working with issues of
self-regulation. In the consumer protection area, Insurance
Sweden has among other things developed a recommendation to ban brokerage commission for liability insurance.
Among the self-regulations initiatives that may also be
mentioned are its development of standards on preventive
measures for fire and theft as well as guidelines for claims
investigation.
The assessment of the Swedish Consumers Insurance
Bureau is that all house insurance companies are now
generally reviewing their premium rates and risks in light
of the extreme weather events of 2014 in the form of
floods and forest fires. This could ultimately lead to high
premium increases, for example, in areas with watercourses at risk of flooding.
In 2015, the Swedish Consumer Agency will examine
home insurance, identity protection and possibly also insurance against net hate.
Insurance policies, due to how they are designed are products that are relatively inaccessible. Consumers pay their
insurance premium but do not know for sure if they will
be needing the product. If something unfortunate does
happen and consumers need to use their insurance, it is
not always clear what value it has. Claims adjustment can
be perceived as arbitrary when in actual fact it is strictly
proceeding from what the insurance company has undertaken under the terms and conditions. The main value in
purchasing the product is that it conveys a sense of security. In the event insurance needs to be used, this value
can be of huge importance to the consumer. Offers where
a product is sold with its own insurance involve a risk of
over-insurance, especially when consumers do not know
what existing insurance coverage they have and are not
prepared to be offered insurance. With regard to the insurance itself, it is very much case of an impulse purchase.
There is an inherent problem when damage covered by
insurance is being rectified, for example by tradesmen.
The divisions of responsibility between consumers, insurance companies and tradesmen are not obvious in these
cases. As evidenced by complaints to the Swedish Consumers Insurance Bureau, this causes a number of problems
in cases where consumers are not satisfied with the work
carried out. Here we present some ideas for what could
help to reduce problems like these:
• Insurance companies should require the tradesmen or other
companies they have agreements with to rectify damage to be
skilled and reliable.
• Consumers need to place demands on and have a dialogue with
the insurance company so that the repairs made are based on
the insurance terms and conditions. For example, consumers
are not to believe that an old bathroom will be completely replaced with a new one.
• If consumers do not like the tradesman assigned by the insurance company, it should be investigated whether consumers
can themselves arrange a different tradesman, but with payment being made by the insurance company.
• Consumers need to become better at documenting what they
have been promised in dialogue with their insurance company.
• Work by tradesmen should be agreed in advance, for example
using the contract template (Tradesman form) produced by the
Swedish Consumer Agency together with the Swedish Construction Federation and the Swedish Homeowners Association.
Group insurance policies with negative option subscription,
which include those who do not actively decline, create a
number of problems for consumers. The experience of the
Swedish Consumer Agency is that consumer awareness
of negative option subscription is very low. Together with
a low interest in insurance issues generally, there is therefore a risk of consumers becoming affiliated to insurance
policies without even knowing it. This can lead both to an
increase in premium costs and over-insurance. There may
also be cases where consumers incorrectly understand that
the group insurance provides adequate cover, while in fact
it is very thin. In such cases, the result may be that consumers become under-insured.
The simplest way of all for consumers is, of course, for
them to be able to compare both insurance terms and
premium costs in one and the same place. It would make
things even simpler if consumers, in connection with this
comparison, could order the insurance they found to be
most favourable based on their own needs. This is the
business concept behind the commercial actors offering
online services to compare and take out insurance. Such
services can be valuable for consumers who want to make
an active choice in a simple way. However, from the
Swedish Consumer Agency’s perspective, it is important
for these services to be clear on what their comparisons are
based on, how much of the market the comparisons cover
and on the fact that the brokers receive payment from the
insurance companies. This applies regardless of whether the
comparison and the brokerage are said to be free of charge.
It should also apply even if the commission is productneutral, i.e. that the remuneration is the same regardless
of which company’s product the consumer purchases.
As we mentioned earlier, there are actors that go yet one
more step and offer to manage the consumers’ choice
of insurance company for them. Here too, the Swedish
Consumer Agency argues a need of the same clarity as for
comparison services. In addition, it is very important that
consumers understand how the arrangement works.
Consumer complaints about the insurance companies’
depreciations due to age and wear appear to indicate that
there is a need for insurance companies to become clearer
in their management of this and in some cases to clarify
the insurance terms and conditions.
In summary
• It is positive if the industry implements measures that
clarify the difference between marketing and information from independent actors, and also measures that
facilitate comparisons between the products of different
insurance companies.
• Insurance companies should continue to work on making
their pre-purchase information easier to find, clearer
and more informative. They also need to make it clear to
the consumer that this is important to read this information.
• The Swedish Consumers Insurance Bureau’s initiative
involving awarding points in independent comparisons
is also positive. If these comparisons could be expanded
to also include price information, this would provide a
more comprehensive basis for consumer decisions. The
Swedish Consumer Agency can help to make these comparisons more well known among consumers.
• Brokers offering consumers a choice between different
insurance companies need to be clear on how they arrive
at their selection of policies and companies and on how
much of the market they cover, and so on.
• There is an urgent need for the regulations allowing negative option subscription to group insurance policies to
be restrictive.
41
BANKING AND
FINANCIAL SERVICES
It is personal loans/credit cards and investments/pensions that are
the markets that we identify as particularly problematic within
the segment of banking and financial services.
Current accounts and mortgages also come in the lower
part of the CMI list, but we have not included them here
because consumers viewed their conditions as being significantly better on those markets. In some respects, however, those markets also have a similar set of problems, and
the banks’ “total customer concept” also means that these
become interlinked. As regards investment and pensions,
these also share a border with the insurance market in the
form of endowment insurance and pension insurance. These services have the form of an insurance policy, but are in
many cases to be regarded more as a form of saving, both
from the perspective of salespersons and consumers.
Banking and financial services have much in common with
both telecoms and insurance services in the sense that they
concern services that are difficult for consumers to eva-
42
luate. It can be both difficult for consumers to assess what
needs they have and to compare the services offered. Trust
is also a problem for the industry. Just as with insurance,
many consumers experience choosing banking and financial services as difficult to understand and tedious. Such
factors mean that few consumers try to find the best value
alternatives for various banking and financial services.
Some groups of consumers may also have cognitive limitations that make it difficult for them to make informed
choices on the financial markets. This is highlighted in a
research report from 2011, commissioned by Finansinspektionen (Sweden’s financial supervisory authority). This
presents major differences between population groups
in terms of numeracy. It is worrying that the youngest
participants also perform poorly. Individuals with low
education and low income perform poorly as well. Women
perform less well than men. The researchers write that if
individual financial decision-making is going to play an
increasing role, for example by giving the individuals an
increasing role in managing their own pension capital, then
we must also be aware that many people might find it difficult to make informed decisions. The results also underline
the importance of realising that quantitative information
can be perceived differently by different consumers. When
information is provided in a way that assumes good numeracy skills, it is in practice not very informative if the consumer lacks adequate ability to take in this information.
Consumers view it as difficult to make choices, but they
do not, however, view the choices as particularly limited.
As regards consumer behaviour, there is an interesting difference whereby consumers perceive themselves as clearly
less well informed in investment/pensions choices than in
personal loan/credit card choices. Investment and pensions
is also the market of all the 45 that has the very lowest level
of understanding of what was included in the purchase.
Complaints from consumers are not as frequent for the
banking and financial markets as for the telecoms and
insurance markets. In Konstat, the total number of cases
concerning banking and financial services reached about
2 per cent of the total number of cases. 63 per cent were
designated complaints. In 2014, ARN registered just over
3 per cent of cases in the banking and financial area of
the total. This was a clear decline in the number of cases
from 2012 and in 2013. The Swedish Consumers’ Banking
& Finance Bureau received cases where about half concerned complaints and half concerned cases of an informational character. If we look at the distribution between
complaints and other reasons for consumers to seek help
– usually to obtain information – we can see that the proportion of complaints is lower in the banking and financial
area than for both insurance and telecoms services.
A table with an overview of case statistics for the four
most problematic markets is found on page 33. The
Swedish Consumers’ Banking & Finance Bureau divides
its cases into the areas of payment, saving and borrowing.
In 2014, the most common complaints in the area of
payment concerned: unauthorised withdrawals on credit
cards, complaints related to contract content and contract
interpretations, problems linked to the banks’ procedures
when complying with money laundering rules and problems with opening an account. The complaints in the
latter two areas have increased sharply in 2014 and are
interrelated. In the area of saving, the complaints mainly
relate to financial advice and to contracts and terms.
In the area of borrowing, the complaints mainly relate
to contracts, terms, interest rates and mortgage fees, and
to contracts and terms for credit on cards and in shops.
Complaints about financial advice have for many years
been one of the most common complaints made to the
Swedish Consumers’ Banking & Finance Bureau. In 2013,
this trend was broken, with complaints beginning to
Banking and financial services
Other 6 %
Saving (in
securities)
10 %
Saving (not in
securities)
19 %
Payment 30 %
Borrowing 35 %
Case statistics from the Swedish Consumers’ Banking & Finance Bureau (complaints and other cases)
decrease in number. The number of complaints about
financial advice has also fallen in 2014.
A report from the Swedish National Audit Office in
2014 points to the complexity of the pension system and
to central government not having taken sufficient responsibility for the system as a whole. The design of the system
means that individuals are exposed to a great number of
choices, factors of influence and consequences of diffe-
rent choices that make it difficult for them to handle the
situation. Consumer choices partly concern any pensions
savings of their own and partly the placement of the “automatic” pensions savings in the form of premium pensions and occupational pensions. Pensions are thus very
much a question of a consumer situation and are found
in the borderland between both the banking and financial
segment and the insurance segment.
43
This segment is special because it not only entails expenditure for consumers due to the fact that savings services
are normally a source of revenue. In terms of expenditure,
it is loans that entail the major expenditures. The actual
expenditures are otherwise relatively small, for example,
various fees for payment cards and the like. Although saving entails revenue rather than expenditure, the financial
significance for consumers can be great. Less successful decisions in the choice of savings form can entail very noticeable financial consequences for consumers, for example
with regard to their pension.
In Statistics Sweden’s statistics, banking and financial
services have a high proportion of total household
expenditure, just over 3 per cent. In terms of individual
expenditures, personal loans are also one of the markets
with the greatest financial significance. Mortgages are even
more significant, but as mentioned, consumers viewed
their conditions as less problematic on that market.
We have reason to keep an eye on the financial markets
due to changes arising, among other things, from internationalisation and online developments. EU harmonisation
in the area of finance has taken place through regulation
of matters such as payments, mortgages and funds. The
market has reacted to this so that actors in the area of
payment are European rather than Swedish. International
actors will be accompanied by new sales methods that
Swedish consumers are not accustomed to. Furthermore,
the legal and tax conditions might be unclear, for example
with regard to financial advice from a foreign country.
Saving
The reason for the decreasing trend in the number of
complaints about financial advice is probably the fact
that a smaller number of endowment insurance brokers
have for various reasons now ceased their activities. These
had previously generated a large number of cases to the
Swedish Consumers’ Banking & Finance Bureau. A further
explanation for the problems in this area no longer appearing to be as great might be that authorities, politicians,
industry organisations and also the Swedish Consumers’
Banking & Finance Bureau have focused major attention
on this area. One factor that might also play a role is that
consumer placements generally saw a positive development in 2014, thus reducing the tendency to complain.
The industry lays stress on self-regulation as the main
explanation for the decrease in complaints.
The banks’ procedures regarding money laundering
rules and problems opening an account are mentioned as
two areas in which the number of consumer complaints
has increased sharply. Since 2014, the banks have been
required to apply the money laundering rules to all customers. The rules mean that banks must know the purpose
and nature of the customer’s transactions. Customers who
have had the same bank for many years naturally react
negatively to being questioned about their purposes.
Some consumers wishing to open an account are denied
44
this without being given any proper explanation because
the bank is prevented from doing so under the regulations.
The industry organisation, the Swedish Bankers’ Association, is in dialogue with Finansinspektionen on this issue.
Borrowing and payment
The number of complaints to the Banking & Finance
Bureau concerning unauthorised withdrawals on credit
cards decreased drastically in 2014 compared to previously.
Possible explanations could be increased technological
security and improved complaint management by card
issuers together with ARN’s development of clear praxis
regarding disputes concerning the Act on unauthorised
transactions. The instances of fraud whereby defrauders
have gained access to consumer passwords have also
decreased sharply. Hopefully, this means that many
consumers are no longer allowing themselves to be deceived.
New forms of payment are emerging at a significant
pace. At the end of 2014, the banks’ Swish service had two
million active users two years after its launch. There are
also several other companies that have launched payment
services of various kinds and new actors are emerging.
Apps are also being released with various types of
services in the banking and financial area.
For several years, the Swedish Consumer Agency has had
a particular focus on this market, especially as regards
enforcement and influence, for example, through referral
responses and consultation with the industry.
Saving
Since 2013, our special analysis has been more specifically
related to the long-term saving services, such as funds.
This work is moving forward during 2015 in the form of
a cooperation project together with the Swedish Competition Authority.
Finansinspektionen (FI) has for several years worked
actively to strengthen consumer protection in the advisory
market. This work has been done by means of increased
enforcement and more interventions against companies
that do not comply with the regulations, and also by
means of proposals for stricter legislation, such as a ban
on commission.
The large number of investigations and interventions
carried out by Finansinspektionen in recent years is assessed to have had a positive effect on consumer protection.
By means of sanction decisions, FI has clarified the requirements on advisers regarding, e.g. conducting suitability
assessments, providing information on fees and incentives,
and identifying and managing conflicts of interest. FI has
also communicated positions and guidance through external reports and seminars, as well as in direct dialogue with
industry organisations and companies on the market.
Over the past year, a number of government inquiries,
and also the Government, have presented some proposals
concerning consumer protection in the area of financial advice. These include a proposal prohibiting the receiving of
commission for investment advice and insurance brokerage.
The forthcoming rules might hopefully contribute to increased protection for consumers. In its referral responses,
the Swedish Consumer Agency has argued for further
tightening of the rules in relation to the proposals that
have been presented. In August 2015, certain amendments
to the Money Laundering Act will enter into force. These
relate to who are to be regarded as “politically exposed
persons”. Under the Money Laundering Act, the bank is
always obliged to ask some basic questions of new customers wishing to open a deposit account, for example. The
purpose is for the bank to “attain to knowledge of the
customer” as the legislation is worded. As regards a “person in a politically exposed position”, the bank must ask
further questions.
Borrowing and payment
Quite a lot happened in 2014 as regards problems with
overdrafts and quick loans, which are often taken via the
internet. Both Finansinspektionen and the Swedish Consumer Agency were then given new opportunities to exercise
enforcement over companies that provide or mediate loans
to consumers and to act when these activities are operated
in an inadequate way.
Finansinspektionen is currently working on the licensing
of companies that have applied to operate activities as a
consumer credit institute. As and when companies become
licensed, Finansinspektionen will examine the companies’
compliance with the rules. The Swedish Consumer Agency
has already made use of the new sanction opportunities
against companies with inadequate credit checks. These relate to two quick loan companies and two clothing chains
with major shortcomings in their credit checks. There are
now conditions for healthier credit facilities, which should
be able to counteract the over-indebtedness of consumers.
This represents an urgent need since the Swedish Enforcement Authority notes that the proportion of unpaid quick
loans has increased by around 15 per cent in 2014.
In a report in 2014, the Swedish Prosecution Authority
highlighted “credit usury” as a priority issue for which there
is no legal praxis. There is uncertainty as to the application
of the law to quick loans with short credit periods as regards the interest rates that may be considered reasonable.
The regular media coverage of the banks’ high profits
risks being a contributing factor to the lack of trust in this
segment. Both in 2013 and 2014, there were media messages about record profits for the banks. The banks’ high
margins might be a sign of weak competition. The relatively low mobility of consumers does not apply enough
pressure on the banks to provide consumers with better
terms. This low mobility can in turn be due to difficulties
in making comparisons, the banks’ ambition to lock consumers into a “total customer concept” and the perceived
complexity of changing bank. Other factors that may have
an influence are the consumers’ motivation and knowledge. Just as with insurance, many consumers experience
choosing banking and financial services as difficult to
understand and tedious. Such factors mean that few con-
sumers try to find the best value alternatives for various
banking and financial services.
Banking markets have financial thresholds that can be
considerable. One such threshold that limits the inclination towards mobility is the tax effect when fund units are
sold. If a consumer has a fixed-rate mortgage, changing
bank might also be associated with high costs in the form
of interest differential compensation. Many banks also
recommend consumers to divide their mortgages into
several different loans with different lengths of term.
This makes it very difficult to change bank.
The list of different problems mentions fraud whereby
defrauders have gained access to consumer passwords. In
addition to these problems, the Swedish Consumer Agency
also sees problems with fraud in the form of “phishing
e-mails”. These concern cases where a consumer receives
an e-mail that appears to come from a bank, whereby the
defrauder’s intent is to acquire details that grant access
to the consumer’s account, credit card or the like. Such
e-mails can be designed with the bank’s logo and often
contain a request to act quickly due to the occurrence of
some kind of risk. To avoid that consumers falling prey
to fraud of this kind, it is important for them to become
aware that banks never communicate with their customers
in this way. It would be desirable to have more clear information from the banks about this, or some campaign at
the societal level.
The many complaints from consumers regarding
money laundering are due to the introduction of rules that
the banks are obliged to follow. At the same time, these
complaints might suggest that the banks have not been
successful in communicating to their customers the reason
why they are suddenly being questioned about their money.
It is also important that the money laundering regulations
are not managed in a way that groundlessly denies consumers the opportunity to make use of basic banking services,
such as opening an account. There is a potential conflict
here between two sets of regulations: partly that consumers
should have the right to basic banking services and partly
that banks are required to counteract money laundering.
In summary
• It is positive that there are improved conditions regarding enforcement within the consumer credit market. The
Swedish Consumer Agency hopes that this will lead to a
decrease in the problems of inadequate credit checks.
• The Swedish Consumer Agency welcomes the
Government’s proposals concerning enhanced consumer
protection in the area of financial advice, but we would
like to see further tightening of the rules.
• It is important that the money laundering regulations
are not used as a way for banks to deny less desirable
customers the opportunity to open an account.
45
LEGAL SERVICES
This market covers assistance in legal issues, such as divorce, estate inventory,
tax issues and judicial proceedings.
The company a consumer turns to might be a law firm, legal firm or the like. Some call themselves family lawyers to
emphasise that they cater for private individuals, offering
the type of services that our market definition
covers. However, these services can be offered by a broad
range of actors, such as undertakers, banks, accounting
firms and estate agents. There are no provisions specifying
who is entitled to call themselves a legal adviser and start
a legal firm. By contrast, only those who have been accepted as a member of the Swedish Bar Association may call
themselves lawyers. Compared with the three markets and
segments described above, it is very apparent that many
of those purchasing legal services are doing so for the first
time and have no previous experience. In the CMS, 50 per
cent reported that it was the first time they made a purchase on this market. The proportion of first-time purchases
was between 9 and 24 per cent for the other markets included among the most problematic.
46
If we look at the conditions that consumers experience as
problematic on this market, these are mainly transparency
and the extent to which they feel well informed prior to
purchase. The conditions for comparing the different providers of these services are experienced as being the worst
of all 45 markets. The same applies to access to independent information. However, trust in the salespersons for
these services is not so low. We do not know which type of
actor the CMS respondents have turned to, whether these
are practitioners with the title of lawyer or someone else
offering the legal services in question.
The market has the third highest proportion of dissatisfied consumers of all 45 examined, and it comes eighth
from bottom in terms of meeting needs. However, this
dissatisfaction does not generate any major volumes of
complaints. A large part of the explanation for this is, of
course, that there are not that many consumers purchasing
these services. Consumer advisers registered just under 400
such cases in Konstat in 2014, of which 69 per cent were
complaints. This can be compared, for example, with just
over 4,000 cases each for fixed and mobile telephony. ARN
received 11 cases relating to estate inventory and estate
division. A table with an overview of case statistics for the
four most problematic markets is found on page 33.
The Swedish Bar Association’ Disciplinary Committee
determined 621 cases in 2014 concerning complaints
against lawyers. The majority of complaints concern
personal law, especially divisions of joint property and
estate divisions. According to the Swedish Bar Association,
these often relate to consumers finding that the matter has
taken too long or that the lawyer has been difficult to get
hold of. They often involve estate administration assignments where there might even be good explanations for
why the matter cannot proceed. But this does not mean
that communication from the lawyer may cease; on the
contrary, it is even more important in that situation for the
lawyer to maintain contact with the client. In many cases,
it is quite clear that no complaint would have ever become
relevant had the lawyer only been better at communicating with the client.
On the whole, however, the Swedish Bar Association
finds that consumers have confidence in lawyers and positive experiences of their services. The long-term trend is
fewer disciplinary complaints even though the number of
lawyers is increasing sharply. The increase since 2000 has
been 58 per cent – from 3,535 lawyers in 2000 to 5,602
lawyers in 2014.
That these services do not come as high in complaint
statistics might also be due to the fact that most people
do not want to question costs for estate inventories and
burial services. This is perceived to be inappropriate to the
situation. Complaints made to local consumer advisers can
often involve the services having highly inadequate price
information. It is difficult to compare what the services
should cost, and most people do not dare question either
price or quality because they dare not argue with someone
who is a legal adviser or lawyer.
According to the Swedish Bar Association, it is not
unusual for consumers to turn to lawyers having first
engaged another actor whom they perceived to have
inadequate competence. From the consumer’s perspective,
it can be difficult to form an opinion about the difference
there is between different providers of services regarding
the ability to deal with what the consumer wants help
with. The title of lawyer places high competence requirements and means that the practitioner is under the
supervision of the Swedish Bar Association and its Disciplinary Committee, and of the Chancellor of Justice. At
the same time, there may be price differences entailing that
a provider without the title of lawyer is perceived to be a
financially attractive alternative for consumers. For some
assignments, a provider without a lawyer’s title is perhaps a
fully adequate alternative. The financial conditions for consumers may also be affected by access to legal protection
and legal aid. Legal protection might be included in home
or vehicle insurance. Legal aid is a central government grant
to persons who need to engage legal counsel in the event of
a dispute. However, this does not apply to all types of dispute, and primarily covers persons with lower incomes.
These services cannot be inferred from Statistics Sweden’s
statistics on total household expenditure. Since it is relatively uncommon for consumers to purchase these services, we
can expect them to represent a small proportion of the total.
However, the financial significance of the individual purchase can be great. In that respect, this market was ranked the
15th most significant of the 45 markets we examined.
There is an EU Directive that requires alternative dispute
resolution bodies in all Member States. At present, there
is no access to alternative dispute resolution for consumer
disputes with lawyers since these are not handled by ARN.
In line with the requirements of the EU Directive, the Swedish Bar Association is therefore establishing a consumer
dispute board for lawyer services in 2015. The board is
intended to provide consumers with access to a simple,
inexpensive and quick way to examine disputes with
lawyers regarding fees, for example. Disputes relating to
legal services performed by those other than lawyers will
continue to be handled by ARN. The board’s activities will
commence after the summer of 2015 at the earliest.
There may be reason for our future knowledge-building
work to map which actors consumers have turned to when
they have purchased these types of service.
In summary
• There is an urgent need for consumers be given opportunity to receive clear information about the competence
of those providing these services and about costs.
• It is important that consumers purchasing the services
are given good information about how their matters are
progressing. This is particularly important if unforeseen
developments mean that the final cost might exceed
what was initially estimated.
47
THE CONSUMER
CONDITIONS
IN DIFFERENT
MARKETS
49
CONSUMER
MARKETS
INDEX
In order to provide an overall picture of consumer conditions in different
markets, the Swedish Consumer Agency has developed a measuring instrument,
the Consumer Markets Index (CMI). Using the CMI we can compare markets
with different characteristics and by way of a ranking system we can identify
the markets that are perceived as functioning less efficiently. We gather data for
the CMI annually by means of the Consumer Market Survey (CMS). The survey
is based on the consumers’ own evaluations and experiences of a specific and
recently completed purchase.
The Consumer Market Survey
The CMS provides comparable consumer assessments
within 45 different types of purchase, called markets,
which together account for about half of all household
expenditures. Definitions of the 45 markets are presented in the appendix. The results in the CMS are based on
consumers’ own evaluations of how a purchase in a given
market is perceived, for example, when it comes to trust
in salespersons or the possibility of comparing products.
A total of 7,811 persons participated in this year’s survey.
More details about the CMS are also described in the
appendix Facts about the CMS. Those wanting more indepth information on various results and the implementation of the CMS can read more in the report Data for
Swedish Consumer Report 2015 (2015:5).
One of the main purposes of carrying out the CMS is
to produce results from which to compute our Consumer
Markets Index (CMI) for the various markets.
Four factors included in the CMI
We have limited the scope of the CMI to include four factors relating to how markets function: transparency, trust,
choice and behaviour. The questions we ask the consumers
relate to different aspects of these four factors. In the CMI
we have chosen to include eight specific questions from
the CMS. The questions are structured as statements, and
the respondent indicates their stance with regard to the
50
statement on a scale of 1 to 5. The higher the number, the
more the consumer agrees with the statement, and the
more positive the assessment is. The CMI is the average
of these eight evaluations. Each question is given equal
weighting in the CMI.
The markets have been ranked according to their CMI
value: ranking 1 is the least problematic market and ranking 45 is the most problematic.
Indicators showing consumer conditions
The CMI thus has a focus on reflecting consumer conditions. An important point in mapping these conditions is
the discovery of any unsatisfactory conditions in various
markets that do not necessarily come to expression when
we look at consumer complaints or carry out our enforcement activities. Good conditions on markets mean that
consumers have good opportunities to make choices that
meet their needs and that they can feel secure.
The diagram to the right gives a description of what
the different factors and aspects of the CMI are trying to
capture. These four factors and eight aspects are obviously
not the only areas that may be of interest when it comes to
consumer conditions. These are however the ones that we
have selected as the most important.
The four factors
Transparency
Trust
Choice
Behaviour
Consumers need good opportunities both to find and
Consumers must be able
Consumers need to have
Consumers can themsel-
use information in order to make well-informed choi-
to trust information from
the opportunity to choose
ves influence their situa-
ces.
market actors in order to
among different alter-
tion by making conscious
take in information.
natives from different
and active choices.
retailers.
Independent information
Trust in the retailer/
provider
Competition
Information level
In many cases it is easy
Understanding
This is about being
Before a purchase is
That it is easy to find,
to understand what
Being able to trust the
able to choose between
made, an informed
e.g. product tests or
you are buying, but not
salesperson’s informa-
different companies
consumer gathers infor-
impartial advice before
always. Especially where
tion and advice.
or suppliers. Choice is
mation and compares
making a purchase. In-
services with complica-
based on where you live
different alternatives.
formation provided by
ted terms and conditions
in the country, access to
companies is often de-
are concerned, it can be
the internet and aspects
signed to promote their
difficult to understand
of availability.
own products.
what you are actually
The eight aspects
getting for your money.
Complexity
Product comparisons
Range
In some markets it is
The opportunity to com-
The opportunity to
simple and straightfor-
pare the price and qua-
choose between different
ward to shop, while in
lity of different products,
products that also reflect
others it is perceived to
e.g. price comparison
consumer needs. Needs
be significantly more dif-
sites.
and desires regarding
ficult. It can be difficult
choices shift as far as,
to assess the quality of
e.g. durability, price and
the product at the time
quality are concerned.
of purchase and, in some
cases, specialist knowledge is more or less
required.
There can also be problems understanding the
range and figuring out
which purchase is best.
THE CONSUMER CONDITIONS IN DIFFERENT MARKETS
51
What effects can shortcomings in these factors have on
the functioning of the markets?
Poor conditions in markets can result in a variety of consequences for both consumers and companies. For
example:
Results of the CMI
Here are the overall results of the CMI for the 45 selected
markets in the CMS. They are ranked based on the consumers’ own experiences of making purchases within the
different markets.
• Where transparency is low, uncertainties regarding the
purchase can create hesitation among consumers. There is a
risk that what is purchased and delivered does not meet the
expectations created in the consumer, and this might lead to
dissatisfaction. There is also a risk of consumers subsequently
discovering that there were better alternatives that they did not
succeed in finding due to the lack of transparency.
• Markets with low trust may have problems with confusing information, that products are marketed in an exaggerated manner,
or the use of prohibited business practices.
• A lack of choice may be a sign that consumers are forced to
settle for an item that does not effectively meet their needs.
This may suggest that consumers are for one reason or another
locked into a specific product or service. This might also be due
to lack of competition, which reduces the incentives for companies to develop their products and services.
• A low level of consumer behaviour reduces the opportunities
to find the product that best meets consumer needs. This increases the risk of dissatisfaction arising after the purchase is
made.
Shortcomings in one or more of the identified factors can
reduce consumer willingness or opportunities to be active.
This might lead both to poorer opportunities to choose
the product that meets their needs and to weaker competition. Weaker competition leads in turn to reduced pressure
on pricing. Over time, this can also lead to a less dynamic
and innovative market, which ultimately affects consumers
as this weakens the market’s potential to develop its range.
52
Reading guide
The most interesting aspect for us in analysing the
CMI is the relative ranking between markets. By ranking the markets (from 1 to 45), we can identify the
most problematic markets. We can look at the CMI list
in different ways: based on all 45 markets, by separating goods and services or by merging several similar
markets into segments, such as insurance.
The markets that come in the lower part of the list are
deemed to be the most problematic. However, we do
not set
any limit based on an absolute value of the CMI, because it is not possible to designate a value for when
a market becomes problematic. Nevertheless, the
CMI value might in itself be able to give an indication
of how individual markets develop over time. It also
makes it possible to compare consumer assessments
in different situations (such as when the purchase
is made online compared with when it is made via a
telesales person) and assessments between different
groups of consumers, such as those who purchased
something for the first time and those with previous
purchasing experience.
As we have now completed the Consumer Report for
the third year, we are able to compare the CMI results
from these three years. It is still too early to speak of
trends regarding improvement or deterioration in the
markets. However, we do see tendencies in certain
directions that we may interpret with caution. Viewed
over time, we would like to see whether individual
markets are moving from one part of the list to another.
The CMI ranking is stable over time
This year’s CMI results show that consumer assessments
of the markets are equivalent to those of previous years.
The ranking of the markets is relatively stable and illustrates no significant changes since 2014. The average CMI
value for all markets has now for three years in a row
remained at around 3.60. We see no change in the markets
that are in the CMI’s bottom list, i.e. with the worst conditions for consumers. However, restaurant, café and bar are
back in the top ten list, as in 2013.
According to the CMI, the following markets
have the worst conditions for consumers:
• Telecommunication services (fixed and mobile telephony, internet and TV subscriptions)
• Legal services relating to personal or family life (e.g. divorce,
estate inventory, tax issues, financial disputes, judicial proceedings)
• Travel by rail and local public transport (bus, tram and metro)
• Personal/family insurance (e.g. personal accident, pregnancy,
child, pet, income, health and life insurance)
• Investments and private pensions savings
• Electricity
Service markets are predominant
among problematic markets
For the third year in a row, the CMI results show that service markets are heavily predominant in the lower part of
the list. This could be partly explained by a general sense
of consumer goods being easier to purchase. The exception is clothing and footwear purchases, where conditions
are assessed as being considerably worse than in other
goods markets. The market’s low ranking is primarily due
to the consumers’ assessment of their own behaviour prior
to a purchase – the clothing and footwear market is rated
worst of all 45 markets with respect to how well-informed
its consumers felt before making their choice.
However, markets where consumers feel that they have
good conditions for making purchases can be found
both within the goods and services sectors. For example,
pleasure purchases such as restaurant visits, holiday accommodation, package and charter holidays, culture and
entertainment, and purchases of everyday commodities
such as food are all perceived in a positive light.
Public transport higher in the list
Seven markets change their ranking by more than five
places among the 45 markets this year. Six of theses have
a higher ranking; in the lower part of the list, public transport and rail travel move upwards, in the middle, personal
care products, non-prescription medicines, and commercial sport services move upwards, and in the top ten
list, restaurant visits are back as in 2013. In contrast, the
market for maintenance products, which is in the middle
of the list, has a lower ranking this year. In some cases, the
CMI values are unchanged for these markets, such as personal care products and non-prescription medicines, but
there have been changes in other markets that nevertheless
alter the ranking.
Car rental displays the biggest decline in CMI rating
A handful of markets have a lower CMI rating than in
2014. The biggest declines in absolute terms concern the
markets for small household appliances, car rental and
clothing/footwear. There is a possible trend towards
poorer conditions over the past three years for white
goods and airline services. A few markets have a higher
rating this year than in 2014, the biggest upward change
having been made by rail travel. We also see a slight trend
towards improved conditions for the purchase of nonalcoholic drinks.
The appendix Summary of results provides an overview of
the results for the eight aspects included in the CMI for each
market, together with the full results from previous years.
53
CMI per market
CMI (average of eight aspects on a scale of 1-5) per market.
2015
Most problematic
Least problematic
CMI
Change
2014-2015
Ranking
Dairy products
Non-alcoholic drinks
Fruit/vegetables
Books/newspapers
3,97
3,96
3,89
3,87
3,87
1
2
3
4
5
Restaurants/cafés/bars
3,83
6
Package and charter holidays
Bread/grain products
Culture/entertainment
3,82
3,81
3,81
7
8
9
Personal care services
3,78
10
Small household appliances
Spectacles/contact lenses
3,73
3,72
11
12
Non-prescription medicines
3,71
Personal care products
New cars
White goods
Electronic products
2014
2013
Ranking
Ranking
14
8
13
20
18
3,70
14
21
24
3,70
3,69
3,67
15
16
17
25
12
15
16
43
38
44
41
Commercial sport services
3,67
18
Meat
Airline services
3,67
3,65
19
20
Maintenance products
3,65
21
Leisure goods
Second-hand cars
Furniture/furnishings
Vehicle fuel
Car rental
Mortgages
Vehicle insurance
Current accounts
Vehicle maintenance and repair
Clothing/footwear
Tradesmen
Estate agents
Personal loans/credit cards
House/home insurance
3,64
3,58
3,55
3,55
3,53
3,53
3,48
3,46
3,46
3,45
3,43
3,41
3,39
3,38
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
Train services
3,37
36
Electricity
3,35
37
Bus/tram/metro
3,34
38
Internet
Investments/pensions
Personal/family insurance
Mobile telephony
Legal services*
Fixed telephony
TV subscriptions
3,32
3,29
3,28
3,27
3,23
3,23
3,17
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
NEW
*Altered definition from 2014 to 2015. Markets which this year are among the ten least or most problematic markets, but were not in 2014, have been marked as “NEW”. Changes in ranmeans that the ranking is higher this year than last, and
is used to indicate a deterioraking of more than five places from 2014 to 2015 have been marked with arrows. The symbol
tion. A ranking is given for 2013 and 2014 only for those markets in which we have seen changes in 2015. The appendix Summary of results presents all the results.
54
Results for the various CMI factors
and aspects
The markets belonging to bottom part of the CMI list are
deemed problematic as determined through an aggregation
of the eight aspects, which are in turn grouped into the
four factors. When we look at the factors individually, we
see that markets are deemed problematic to varying degrees. For example:
• Transparency is particularly problematic in legal services, investments/private pensions savings and in insurance.
• The four telecoms markets are perceived to be among the most
problematic for all four factors, especially as regards trust.
Trust in the retailer/provider is also experienced as low within
the markets for electricity and personal loans/credit cards.
Same problem markets
three years in a row
Telecoms markets stuck
at the bottom?
• Choice is perceived as being the least for travel by rail and
public transport. This specifically concerns the opportunities to
purchase tickets (range of retailers) as well as the number of
possible journeys to choose from.
• The market for leisure goods emerges among those in which
consumers are weakest in themselves finding information prior
to a purchase, but this market is not otherwise among the most
problematic overall. Consumers’ own behaviour is lowest before
the purchase of clothing and footwear.
We can also go down into each individual aspect and see
that there is a variation regarding which markets have
the lowest ranking. A full report of this can be found in
the appendix Summary of results. There may of course be
reason also to take a closer look at these more isolated
problems in order to implement appropriate measures, if
this is necessary.
55
The five most problematic markets for the various CMI factors
TRANSPARENCY
TRUST
CHOICE
BEHAVIOUR
Legal services
TV subscriptions
Train services
Clothing/footwear
Electricity
Bus/tram/metro
Legal services
Internet
TV subscriptions
Mobile telephony
Vehicle fuel
Leisure goods
TV subscriptions
Fixed telephony
Markets ranked lowest for each factor come at the top of the list.
Total CMI
The last three years show that choice and consumer behaviour are the factors that receive the highest overall
ratings. Transparency and trust are the biggest challenges
where improvement is required, when looking at the 45
consumer markets as a whole. For the third year in a row,
we see that the aspects that clearly stand out as the most
problematic are access to independent information, the
opportunity to compare products, and trust in the retailer/
providers. The opportunity to easily compare products is
the aspect showing the biggest decline compared with the
previous year. The data is too limited on the individual
markets to look at differences between different groups of
consumers, but overall across all markets, we can note the
following:
• Women experience conditions as somewhat better than men do.
• The assessment of conditions is increasingly positive the older
the respondents are.
• There is not much difference in the experience of conditions
based on the size of the consumers’ places of residence.
• There are great differences in the experience of conditions
between consumers in various vulnerable or disadvantaged
situations, and in different purchasing situations.
More details on these results can be found in the report
Data for Swedish Consumer Report 2015 (2015:5).
56
UNSUCCESSFUL
PURCHASES
57
UNSUCCESSFUL
PURCHASES
So far we have identified problems based on
the conditions which are required for consumers to be able to make good decisions.
In this section, we examine the extent to
which the decisions made were successful or if
something went wrong.
When the consumer perceives that a purchase was unsuccessful, there are several courses of action. In some cases,
it goes no further than a feeling of dissatisfaction or disappointment over the fact that the purchase did not fulfil the
needs in question. In other cases, the dissatisfaction is so
great that the consumer lodges some form of complaint. In
this section, the results are based both on responses from
consumers in the CMS and on statistics from impartial
authorities to whom consumers can turn for help with
their problems.
Results describing the level of unsuccessful purchases in
different markets provide a new dimension in respect of
the conditions that we have so far examined in the report
when comparing different markets. Poor conditions do
not automatically mean that consumers are also dissatisfied with their purchases. Those who make a complaint
have not only become dissatisfied, they also feel that the
problem is of a magnitude that justifies spending the time
and energy required to make a complaint. More details on
unsuccessful purchases can be found in the report Data for
Swedish Consumer Report 2015 (2015:5).
Percentage and number of complaints
When we look at data regarding complaints, it is important to distinguish whether this involves percentages or
amounts. If the percentage of complaints is high, it means
that many of the purchases made in a particular market
are unsuccessful. Yet it does not necessarily mean that the
total number of complaints is high. The total number of
complaints is also influenced by the number of purchases
made in the market in question.
The Consumer Agency is interested in both measures:
percentage and total number. A high percentage of complaints indicates that purchases often go awry, which may
indicate that there are issues with regard to consumer
conditions even if the total number of complaints is smaller. This is illustrated by this year’s results for hiring legal
services. A large total amount of complaints may also necessitate a closer look at a market, even if the proportion
58
of purchases that lead to complaints is not very high, as
illustrated by second-hand car purchases. In that case, the
total quantity of consumer problems is what justifies the
market being regarded as problematic.
High or low needs fulfilment?
One aspect of being satisfied with a purchase is to see how
well it meets one’s needs. This year, we have again noticed that investments, insurance and the telecoms market
achieve poor results.
Percentage who agree with the statement:
“My choice of purchase fulfilled my needs completely.”
Greatest needs fulfilment
20152014
Dairy products
89 %
Tradesmen
89 %
89 %
Vehicle fuel
88 %
88 %
Fruit/vegetables
87 %
87 %NEW 84 %
Vehicle maintenance and repair 87 %
Meat
85 %NEW 84 %
Books/newspapers
83 %NEW 83 %
•
•
•
•
•
•
Mobile telephony
Legal services*
Internet
Electricity
Estate agents
TV subscriptions
Fixed telephony
Personal/family insurance Investments/pensions
Investering/pension
77 %
75 %
73 % NEW 82 %
72 % 65 %
70 %
70 %NEW 71 %
64 %
63 %
63 %
63 %
60 %
Lowest needs fulfilment
*Altered definition from 2014 to 2015.
Markets which this year, compared with 2014, are among the 10 with the lowest or greatest needs
fulfilment have been marked as “NEW”. Any statistically significant differences between 2014 and
means that the assessment was more positive this
2015 have also been indicated. The symbol
is used to indicate a deterioration.
year than last, and
Markets where dissatisfaction was
the greatest and consumers regret
their choices
Dissatisfaction with a purchase means that the consumer felt
that their expectations of the purchase were not met in some
aspect. The specific cause of this dissatisfaction may vary.
The list shows the 10 markets where dissatisfaction was
the greatest. The percentage who agree that they were extremely dissatisfied and very much regretted their choice
varied between 1 and 6 per cent. The average, over all 45
markets, was 3 per cent.
Examples of problems
Percentage who agree with the statement:
“I was extremely dissatisfied and very much regretted my choice.”
TV subscriptions Fixed telephony Legal services* Internet Mobile telephony Estate agents Car rental Bus/tram/metro Investments/pensions Personal/family insurance 6%
6%
6%
5%
5%
4%
3%
3%
3%
2%
Here, we present some quotations from those who were
extremely dissatisfied and who explained what the
problem concerned in response to a follow-up question.
They are only given as examples and are not necessarily
representative of consumer problems within the market in
question.
“Realised afterwards that I could have got
even better terms and conditions.”
(Fixed telephony)
“Things were promised that were not
kept. It turned out more expensive and
more complicated than I thought. Difficult
to compare the alternatives because they are so
different. Thought it went too fast, would
like to think about it a little more.”
(Internet)
“Bad, dishonest agent, resulted in a lot
of misunderstandings.”
(Estate agent)
“Realised that the salesperson had
tricked me into taking the phone
on an instalment plan, even though
it would have been cheaper if I paid in cash.
The salesperson’s calculation of monthly
costs was completely ridiculous. Was a bit
impatient in my decision, maybe
should have waited a little.
“I was given inadequate information about
costs and commitment periods.
Really bad range to choose from!”
(TV subscription)
“We got a lawyer who did not know
what he was talking about.”
(Legal services)
“The salesperson withheld important
information… it was very costly when
a claim actually arose.”
(Personal/family insurance)
(Mobile telephony)
UNSUCCESSFUL PURCHASES
59
How do dissatisfied consumers act?
The organisation to which consumers choose to turn with
their complaint is an indicator of how serious the problem
is. It requires more time and effort to contact a public authority or local consumer adviser than to just complain to
family and friends.
The survey shows that 3 per cent of all consumers were
extremely dissatisfied after their purchases and that only
a minority of those dissatisfied took some form of action.
We see that the dissatisfied consumers act in different ways
depending on what the purchase involves (see the table
below). Overall, we see that the percentage taking some
form of action is higher than last year; 21 per cent have
complained to the salesperson (15 per cent in 2014), 19 per
cent looked up information on their rights and obligations
as a consumer (15 per cent in 2014) and 29 per cent talked
about it with their family, friends or on social media (21
per cent in 2014). Reasons why consumers do not complain
may be that the issue involves a small amount of money, is a
minor problem, or that they are unsure of their rights.
As in previous years, we see that it is in the service market
that it is most common for consumers to take action when
they are dissatisfied. In the telecoms markets, every other
dissatisfied consumer makes a complaint to the salesperson,
and nearly 60 per cent talk to others about their dissatisfaction. The difference is great compared with the goods
markets, such as durable goods. Here, only one in ten dissa-
tisfied consumers make a complaint to the salesperson.
Our results also show how things finally go for the dissatisfied consumers. The majority of complaints to salespersons do not unfortunately lead to a resolution to the
customer’s satisfaction. Viewed across all 45 markets, it is
only three in ten dissatisfied customers (28 per cent) who
get their issues resolved. There is a greater proportion of
dissatisfied customers who complain to the salesperson
about a service than about a product, but the proportion who get their issues
resolved is lower in serThere are many cases of
vice markets than in goods
dissatisfaction that are
markets (24 per cent and
never reported. For every
40 per cent, respectively).
customer who complains,
Please note that survey
there are another four who
results only give an indicaare extremely dissatisfied.
tion of the actual situation
and should be interpreted
with caution. The number
of persons responding to the
question of whether their issue
Increasing numbers
had been resolved was 40 for the
talk about their
goods markets and 117 for serdissatisfaction via
vice markets. Within the service
social media, for
markets, the telecoms markets
example.
are predominant.
Different ways to take action among those who are extremely dissatisfied and
regret their choices, by product type and market segment
Extremely
dissatisfied (%)
Complained to the
salesperson (%)
Sought out
information on rights
and obligations (%)
Told others
(family, friends or
social media) (%)
Total
321 19 29
Total services
3
29
23
42
Total goods
4
11
13
15
Telecommunication5
48
29
57
Everyday commodities
4
3
7
6
Durable goods
4
12
17
17
Clothing/footwear**4
Other services
3
34
27
49
Medicines/spectacles**3
Leisure services
3
12
10
22
Transportation services
3
15
25
38
Vehicles** 3
Banking and financial services**
2
Insurance**2
Electricity**1 The question regarding dissatisfaction was posed to all consumers with relevant purchase experience. The follow-up questions were only answered by consumers who
were extremely dissatisfied and regretted their choice of purchase. For these three questions, the number of respondents varied: services (406), goods (356) and for
segments between 61 (transportation services) and 161 (everyday commodities). Within two segments (**), the number of extremely dissatisfied consumers was too low,
under 40, to be used to describe the results of these questions. For a description of division into segments, see the appendix The 45 markets included in the CMS.
60
Complaints to local consumer advisers
In most municipalities, consumers can turn to a local consumer adviser for assistance. These cases are, to a large extent,
registered using the statistical tool Konstat. In total, nearly
87,000 cases were registered in Konstat in 2014, of which
just over 70,000 concerned consumer complaints. The grou-
ping of markets in Konstat deviates from that used in the
CMS, which means that we cannot make direct comparisons
between these two sources. There is, however, sufficient correspondence in order to make connections to the CMS markets in most instances.
The ten markets
with most complaints to local consumer advisers in 2014
Accommodation, repair and maintenance – Service
Purchases of second-hand cars – Goods
Electronic products – computers/telephones/video game consoles – Goods
Mobile telephony – Service
Fixed telephony – Service
Furniture/utensils/furnishings – Goods
Clothing/footwear/bags – Goods
Internet – Service
Vehicles, repair and maintenance – Service
Household appliances, larger/white goods – Goods
6 734
5 650
4 153
3 667
3 633
3 134
2 337
2 128
2 101
1 654
Complaint statistics from local consumer advisers. “Other” categories have been removed. Source: Konstat, Swedish Consumer Agency.
Complaints to consumer advice bureaus
The fact that Sweden has special advice bureaus for four
markets/segments entails a challenge in interpreting the state
of consumer complaints. If we only look at complaints made
to local consumer advisers, we risk under-representing these
four markets because consumers can instead turn to the advice bureaus directly. If we also report the bureaus’ statistics,
we risk counting their cases twice because consumers might
have first turned to their local consumer adviser and then
also turned to one of the bureaus for further assistance. If we
compare the bureaus with each other, there is also the problem that differences in the statistics may be influenced by
how well known the respective bureau is among consumers,
and the extent to which companies on the relevant market
provide information about opportunities to contact the
bureau. We are aware of these difficulties in interpretation,
but nevertheless choose to also report the bureaus’ statistics.
This may contribute additional indications of the state of
consumer complaints on these markets. It is striking how the
Swedish Telecom Advisors differ from the other bureaus with
regard to the relationship between complaints and other cases. A similar picture can be seen if we look at these markets
in Konstat. Explanations for this have not been analysed, but
it could be that the telecoms services, to a greater extent than
the services handled by the other bureaus, have the character
of something consumers very much want to have, thus responding to offers more impulsively. Insurance, banking and
finance, and electricity have more a character of “tedious”
services that consumers have to have but do not interest
themselves in. They would then be less susceptible to impulsiveness, and consumers would be more inclined to turn to
an expert for assistance. The Swedish Consumers Insurance
Bureau’s own comparisons between different insurance companies might also be something that occasions pre-purchase
questions to the bureau.
Cases at the four advice bureaus in 2014
Telecommunications 7 133
1 359
Insurance 6 193
Energy 987
Banking/financial 2 700
5 624
840
2 600
Complaints
Information and other cases
Case statistics from the four consumer advice bureaus. Source: The consumer advice bureaus.
UNSUCCESSFUL PURCHASES
61
Consumer disputes reported to the National
Board for Consumer Disputes (ARN)
The National Board for Consumer Disputes is a government
agency that is primarily responsible for examining disputes
between consumers and businesses. The service is free of
charge. In total, 11,396 cases were submitted to ARN in
2014. ARN’s division into markets deviates from that of both
the CMS and Konstat, which means that direct comparisons
cannot be made between these sources. As with the Konstat
statistics however, our assessment is that there is sufficient
concordance in most cases to permit connections to markets
as per the CMS.
The ten markets with the highest number
of cases/disputes received by ARN in 2014
Airline services – Service
Purchases of second-hand cars – Goods
Package holidays – Service
Telephony – Service
Furniture – Goods
Purchases of telephones – Goods
Car repairs – Service
House/home insurance – Service
Purchases of computers/accessories – Goods
TV/video/satellite dish etc. – Goods
1 178
979
586
495
442
347
300
272
230
227
Case statistics from ARN. “Other” categories have been removed. Source: ARN.
62
THE SIGNIFICANCE
OF MARKETS
FOR HOUSEHOLD
FINANCES
63
SIGNIFICANCE FOR
HOUSEHOLD FINANCES
It is of particular interest to address problems within markets where households
spend a high proportion of their money. In this section, we take a look at financial
aspects from two different angles, the markets’ share of total household expenditure
and the financial significance of the individual purchase.
CMI in relation to total household
expenditure for different markets
SHARE OF TOTAL HOUSEHOLD
EXPENDITURE 2014 * (%)
6
Markets characterised by a
combination of a high proportion
of expenditure and poorer conditions for consumers (low CMI):
5
1
2
4
Clothing/footwear
Electricity
3
3
4
Telecom services2
6
5
Banking
and financial
services1
7
8
2
9
12
13
14
19 18 17
20
1
21
24
25
27
3,1
16
15
22
23
26
29
31
0
28
30
3,5
The definition of markets for the CMS is not identical to Statistics Sweden’s expenditure
categories. This means that certain markets could not be calculated at all, and that the
calculations presented do not match exactly in some cases. However, we consider the figures
to be sufficiently accurate. A total of 37 of the 45 markets from the CMS are included. Source:
Statistics Sweden, national accounts
* Data on household expenditure for Q4 2013 and Q1-3 2014.
64
10
11
KMI
4
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
Clothing/footwear
Electricity
Banking and financial services1
Cars (new and second-hand)
Telecom services2
Vehicle fuel
Meat
Fruit/vegetables
Dairy products
Electronic products
Leisure goods
Bus/tram/metro
Books/newspapers
Airline services
Vehicle insurance
Train services
White goods
1 Includes the CMS markets mortgages, current accounts, investments/pensions and
personal loans/credit cards
2 Includes the CMS markets fixed telephony, mobile telephony and internet
CMI in relation to household expenditure
If households spend a lot of money on a market, it should
be viewed as more urgent to rectify consumer problems
there than on markets that are less financially significant.
The further to the left a market is placed in this diagram,
the lower its CMI (conditions are worse). In the diagram,
the higher the market is placed the greater its financial
significance to households. The diagram shows that the
following markets are characterised by a combination of a
high proportion of expenditure and poorer conditions for
consumers (low CMI).
• Clothing and footwear
• Electricity
• Banking and financial services (mortgages, current
accounts, investments/pensions and personal loans/
credit cards)
• Telecom services (fixed and mobile telephony and
internet)
THE SIGNIFICANCE OF MARKETS FOR HOUSEHOLD FINANCES
65
CMI in relation to the financial significance
of the individual purchase
Even if the overall spending within a market represents a
small proportion of total household expenditure, an individual purchase in such a market can have great financial
significance to the household. For example, this applies to
the market of white goods, which only constitutes 0.2 per
cent of household expenditure, but where an individual
purchase probably involves at least a few thousand SEK.
This can be compared with the market of restaurants/
cafés/bars, which constitutes a whole 5 per cent of household expenditure, but where an individual purchase
normally only involves a few hundred SEK.
The diagram below shows purchases that consumers
have assessed as one of the biggest of the year presented
in relation to the CMI. This gives an indication of the
financial significance of an individual purchase on a
specific market in relation to consumer conditions.
The market sample is based on at least 10 per cent
having answered that their most recent purchase was
one of the biggest of the year.
The diagram shows that the following markets are
characterised by a combination of a great financial
significance of the individual purchase and poorer
conditions for consumers (low CMI):
CMI in relation to the financial significance
of the individual purchase
• Second-hand cars
• Mortgages
• Estate agents
• Tradesmen
• Vehicle maintenance and repair
• Personal loans/credit cards
• Investments/pensions
• Legal services
• Electricity
Regarding the economic importance of the individual
purchase there is one dimension which we do not capture
when we, as in the diagram, look only at the expenditure.
This is especially obvious within the different markets for
insurances and financial services. These services can have a
high economic importance, but the expense can be low.
In these cases the economic importance is also about the
economic outcome of the service, eg. the compensation
from the insurance in case of a damage, or the increase in
value of an investment. For that dimension we cannot
present any data that show differences between markets.
IT WAS ONE OF MY BIGGEST PURCHASES
OF THE YEAR (“YES”, %)
100
Second-hand cars
1
2
80
Markets characterised by a
combination of high expenditure
for the individual purchase and
poorer conditions for consumers
(low CMI):
Mortgages
60
Estate agents
3
5
4
6
Tradesmen
40
7
12
20
15
Legal services
11
16
Electricity
8
9
10
13
14
Personal loans/
credit cards
17
19
18
0
KMI
3,3
66
3,5
4
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
New cars
Second-hand cars
Mortgages
Estate agents
Tradesmen
White goods
Electronic products
Airline services
Legal services
Electricity
AGGREGATED
RESULTS
67
AGGREGATED
RESULTS
In this section we summarise the situation for Swedish consumers in various
markets. So far we have highlighted consumer conditions, which are summarised
in the Consumer Markets Index (CMI). We have also looked at what happens when
consumers are unsuccessful with their purchases and which markets have
the greatest effect on household finances.
Method of overall assessment
The starting point for our overall assessment is the ranking of markets according to the CMI. The table on the
right presents the markets with the lowest CMI (ranking
22–45). The CMI is thus the component carrying greatest
weight in the aggregated results.
Among these markets with the, relatively speaking,
poorest consumer conditions, we have added the results
for unsuccessful purchases (dissatisfaction, needs fulfilment and complaints) and significance for household
finances. The table handles this in practical terms by
marking the following markets:
Unsuccessful purchases
• Dissatisfaction is marked for the 10 markets with the highest
degree of dissatisfaction in the CMS.
• Needs is marked for the 10 markets with the lowest result for
needs fulfilment in the CMS.
• Complaints is marked for the markets found among the ten that
have most complaints to local consumer advisers (Konstat) and
to ARN. Where a market is found on both these top ten lists, it is
marked with Complaints x2.
Significance for household finances
• Total is marked for the markets which account for more than 3
per cent of total household expenditure.
• Individual purchase is marked for the markets in which at least
25 per cent have responded in the CMS that “it was one of my
biggest purchases of the year”.
By aggregating the various results, the following arguments have led to our list of the most problematic markets:
• All four markets within telecommunications exhibit similar
problems, and these services are often bundled. For this reason,
we have chosen to combine all the four telecoms markets into
one particularly problematic segment.
• As regards insurance, the situation is similar to that of telecommunications. Here too, we have decided to form one
segment, but have omitted vehicle insurance since the CMI was
clearly better for that market.
• Also for banking and finance, there are several markets at the
very bottom of the CMI. Here too, we have decided to form one
segment, but have omitted mortgages and current accounts
since the CMI was clearly better for those markets.
• Local public transport and travel by rail have similar problems,
and we have therefore also formed one segment for those markets.
68
We are aware of the problems when trying to weigh the
complaint statistics and statistics from Statistics Sweden on
the significance for household finances together with the
CMS/CMI. The division into markets is not the same
in the statistics sources as in the CMS. There would have
been problems even if the division had been the same since
the statistics sources are volume-based, whereas the CMS is
average-based. This creates problems in giving a true picture
since the volume-based results are affected so heavily by the
division into markets.
If we take the example of complaint statistics at consumer
advisers, tradesmen services are top. If, on the other hand,
we were to divide them up into sub-markets, such as painting, plumbing, electricians, etc. they would not individually
have such a large number of complaints. The same applies
to the total proportion of household expenditure.
Aggregated results
Market
CMI ranking Unsuccessful purchases
Second-hand cars
23
Complaints x2
Complaints x2
24
Vehicle fuel
25
Car rental
26
Mortgages
27
Vehicle insurance
28
Current accounts
29
Clothing/footwear
Tradesmen
Estate agents
30
31
32
33
34
Complaints x2
Complaints
Complaints
Dissatisfaction, needs
Needs, complaints
Significance for
household finances
Identified as
problematic
Total (incl. new cars)
Individual purchase
Dissatisfaction
Total (banking/finance total)
Individual purchase
Individual purchase
Total
Individual purchase
Individual purchase
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
35
Train services
36
Yes
Electricity
37
Needs
Bus/tram/metro
38
Dissatisfaction
Yes
Internet
39
Dissatisfaction, needs, complaints x2
Yes
Yes
Total
Yes
40
41
Yes
Yes
Mobile telephony
42
Dissatisfaction, needs, complaints x2*
Yes
Legal services
43
Yes
Fixed telephony
44
Dissatisfaction, needs, complaints x2*
Yes
TV subscriptions
45
Yes
*Complaints for telephony reported to ARN are a total of fixed and mobile telephony.
AGGREGATED RESULTS
69
Despite these limitations, we perform a rough aggregation. As in previous years, we present a list of the ten most
problematic markets. It is very similar to the lists made in
2013 and 2014:
The ten MOST problematic markets
• Telecommunications services (TV subscriptions,
fixed telephony, mobile telephony and internet)
• Insurance (personal/family and house/home)
• Banking and financial services (investments/
pensions and personal loans/credit cards)
• Legal services
tial guidance before and after a purchase. The regulatory
activities of the Consumer Agency and other authorities
relating to industries and companies are intended to draw
attention to, and curb possible flaws in regulations and
sales methods. Our focus is on markets where the most prominent and widespread problems are found, and where the
consequences for an individual’s finances are the greatest.
We are also working across all industries to correct these
issues.
Opportunities for consumers
In several markets, consumers experience good market
conditions in various respects. Here is a list of the markets
in which conditions are perceived as the least problematic:
The ten markets with the HIGHEST CMI
• Tradesmen
• Clothing/footwear
• Dairy products
• Non-alcoholic drinks
• Electricity
• Fruit/vegetables
• Estate agents
• Books/newspapers
• Travel by rail and local public transport
• Holiday accommodation
• Restaurants/cafés/bars
The four highest of these, which are deemed to be the
markets or segments that are the most problematic among
markets with problems, we discuss further in the section
The most problematic markets, pages 33–47.
• Package and charter holidays
• Bread/grain products
• Culture/entertainment
• Personal care services
Opportunities and challenges
There are thus many markets where consumer conditions
are tricky and which generate quite a lot of dissatisfaction
and complaints. What then are the general possibilities for
improvement in terms of independent information, product comparisons and trust in businesses?
Consumer policy measures
Consumer advisers in municipalities and at various consumer bureaus and organisations play an important role
in providing consumers with independent information
and support in complex matters. Commissioned by the
Government, a new national information service has been
created by the Swedish Consumer Agency in collaboration
with other governmental authorities. Hallå konsument was
launched in March 2015, offering all Sweden’s consumers a
website and a contact centre that improve access to impar-
70
Consumers have great opportunities in determining the
success of their purchases, for instance by using available
information to critically assess offers from companies. It
can be financially beneficial to actively search for offers
that represent good value, and to regularly review one’s
choices of subscriptions and providers.
Opportunities for businesses
Companies rely on consumer trust for their long-term
survival. This report is a source of information for any
company wishing to improve its position and become
more attractive to consumers. In some cases, it may be
appropriate to undertake industry-wide initiatives in order
to improve an entire industry. There is much to gain from
studying the success factors of markets that are positively
perceived by their consumers.
APPENDICES
71
THE 45 MARKETS
INCLUDED IN THE CMS
We present here the 45 different markets that are included in the the Consumer
Market Survey (CMS). The purpose of this is to provide some examples of the sorts
of goods and services included in these markets. The various presentations of results
in the report only give brief descriptions of the markets, but here we are able to give
a little clearer picture of what each market covers. We have grouped them in markets
for goods and services, and also divided them into different segments.
72
GOODS
EVERYDAY COMMODITIES
• Fruit/vegetables (fresh)
• Meat (meat, deli products)
• Bread/grain products (e.g. bread, cereals, rice, pasta)
• Dairy products (e.g. milk, butter, cheese)
• Non-alcoholic drinks (e.g. coffee, juice, other soft drinks)
• Books/newspapers (e.g. books, magazines, daily newspapers)
• Personal care products (e.g. bathroom products, cosmetics,
perfumes, shaving equipment)
• Vehicle fuel (e.g. petrol, diesel, ethanol)
CLOTHING/FOOTWEAR
VEHICLES
• New cars
• Second-hand cars (from an authorised dealer)
MEDICINES/SPECTACLES
DURABLE GOODS
• Furniture/furnishings
• Electronic products (e.g. TVs/computers and accessories, tablets/mobile phones/smartphones, music devices, cameras,
video game consoles)
• Small household appliances (e.g. coffee machines, irons)
• Leisure goods (e.g. sports equipment, toys, board games)
• Maintenance products (maintenance products for the house
or garden, e.g. tools, paint, fences, lawn mowers)
• White goods (e.g. dishwashers, washing machines, cookers)
SERVICES
BANKING AND FINANCIAL SERVICES
• Current accounts (e.g. credit card accounts, banking services
via telephone/internet)
• Investments/pensions (funds, securities, private pensions
savings or investments)
• Mortgages
• Personal loans/credit cards (including monthly payment
options)
TRANSPORTATION SERVICES
• Bus/tram/metro (travel)
• Train services (travel)
• Airline services (domestic or international scheduled flights)
• Car rental
TELECOMMUNICATIONS
• Fixed telephony (subscriptions)
• Mobile telephony (subscriptions)
• Internet (subscription for internet connection)
• TV subscriptions (not including channels paid for via the
television licence fee)
• Non-prescription medicines
• Spectacles/contact lenses
LEISURE SERVICES
• Holiday accommodation (e.g. hotel, holiday cottage, camping
in Sweden)
• Package and charter holidays (trip within or outside Sweden
that includes both transport and accommodation/activities)
• Restaurants/cafés/bars
• Commercial sport services (e.g. gyms, sports clubs, swimming, skiing)
• Culture/entertainment (e.g. concerts, festivals, sporting
events, cinema, amusement parks, children’s adventure play
centres)
ELECTRICITY
INSURANCE
• House/home insurance
• Vehicle insurance
• Personal/family insurance (e.g. personal accident, pregnancy, child, pet, income, health, life insurance)
OTHER SERVICES
• Personal care services (e.g. hairdressing, beauty treatments,
spa)
• Tradesmen (e.g. carpenters, plumbers, electricians, painters,
floor layers)
• Legal services (e.g. for divorce, estate inventory, tax issues,
financial disputes, judicial proceedings)*
• Estate agents
Legal services 2014: Examples given were legal advisors, accountants, lawyers, bookkeepers.
APPENDICES
73
SUMMARY OF RESULTS
Market ranking by CMI and
its components
This appendix provides an overview of the results for
the 45 selected markets in the CMS. They have been
ranked according to their CMI value in the table, where
1 is the least problematic market and 45 is the most
problematic. We also provide a ranking of the markets
according to consumer perception of the eight aspects
that make up the CMI.
74
Tradesmen
Estate agents
Train services
Electricity
Bus/tram/metro
Internet
Mobile telephony
Legal services
Fixed telephony
TV subscriptions
Information level
Range
Competition
Trust in the
retailer/provider
Product comparison
Understanding
Complexity
Independent
information
CMI
Market
Dairy products
Fruit/vegetables
Books/newspapers
New cars
White goods
Electronic products
Meat
Airline services
Leisure goods
Second-hand cars
Vehicle fuel
Car rental
Mortgages
Vehicle insurance
Current accounts
Clothing/footwear
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
13
19
16
11
4
23
8
21
10
42
7
31
24
26
1
5
2
9
33
14
6
12
3
25
43
30
22
27
17
41
40
3
1
5
4
15
16
12
7
10
6
13
31
8
9
34
24
29
23
17
11
21
20
27
30
2
18
35
22
19
28
25
7
17
13
11
6
5
8
21
2
1
19
10
23
29
15
31
34
4
20
22
27
28
24
18
14
35
25
32
38
12
26
1
4
3
7
5
6
9
8
16
24
10
25
29
23
15
11
12
20
14
2
17
13
21
18
30
22
28
32
33
41
19
7
31
4
33
20
13
15
23
18
3
27
1
2
35
9
11
34
12
21
29
5
16
38
17
26
28
14
37
22
10
19
3
1
12
7
9
5
16
4
35
22
6
11
8
2
24
13
10
39
19
36
21
15
20
31
14
28
32
25
37
38
33
5
1
4
11
7
3
10
6
25
26
14
9
18
2
29
8
13
36
16
35
15
12
33
22
45
21
34
28
39
37
27
6
10
19
12
16
33
7
21
1
11
40
20
31
35
2
28
18
4
23
14
30
42
13
27
5
38
9
22
26
15
45
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
35
38
29
34
44
15
37
18
28
32
20
45
39
36
45
37
39
36
14
38
26
33
42
40
32
44
41
43
16
30
33
42
3
43
9
37
45
44
36
40
39
41
44
37
35
40
27
31
34
26
42
43
38
45
39
36
25
32
41
30
8
44
6
43
40
36
42
24
39
45
29
17
34
18
45
27
44
42
23
26
40
30
41
43
24
19
31
20
44
23
43
40
17
30
38
32
41
42
17
32
25
36
3
34
8
24
41
43
29
44
39
37
APPENDICES
75
Market ranking by CMI over time
These are the results of CMI over time for the 45 selected markets in the CMS. The CMI value and ranking are given for all
three years of the Consumer Market Survey. The markets have
been ranked according to their CMI value in 2015, where 1 is
the least problematic market and 45 is the most problematic.
We also present a ranking of the markets produced by
adding the rankings for each of the three years the survey
has been conducted.
2015
CMI
Ranking
CMI
Total ranking over
3 years
2013
Ranking
CMI
Ranking
Dairy products
Fruit/vegetables
Books/newspapers
New cars
White goods
Electronic products
Meat
Airline services
Leisure goods
Second-hand cars
Vehicle fuel
Car rental
Mortgages
Vehicle insurance
Current accounts
Clothing/footwear
3,97
3,96
3,89
3,87
3,87
3,83
3,82
3,81
3,81
3,78
3,73
3,72
3,71
3,70
3,70
3,69
3,67
3,67
3,67
3,65
3,65
3,64
3,58
3,55
3,55
3,53
3,53
3,48
3,46
3,46
3,45
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
3,99
3,87
3,88
3,88
3,91
3,77
3,88
3,83
3,81
3,88
3,85
3,79
3,71
3,7
3,79
3,79
3,73
3,64
3,71
3,76
3,76
3,75
3,69
3,66
3,51
3,66
3,59
3,53
3,41
3,51
3,57
1
7**
4**
6
2
14
3
9
10
5
8
12
20
21
11
13
18
25
19
16
15
17
22
24
30
23
26
28
34
31
27
3,91
3,62
3,85
3,89
3,96
3,82
3,96
3,74
3,86
3,79
3,74
3,8
3,67
3,58
3,76
3,87
3,6
3,77
3,66
3,78
3,73
3,65
3,68
3,55
3,47
3,61
3,54
3,5
3,48
3,41
3,44
3
21
7
4
2
8
1
14
6
10
15
9
18
24
13
5
23
12
19
11
16
20
17
25
29
22
26
27
28
34
31
1
9
4
5
2
8
3
10
6
7
12
11
16
21
14
13
20
18
19
15
17
22
23
25
28
24
26
27
30
32
29
Tradesmen
Estate agents
Train services
Electricity
Bus/tram/metro
Internet
Mobile telephony
Legal services
Fixed telephony
TV subscriptions
3,43
3,41
3,39
3,38
3,37
3,35
3,34
3,32
3,29
3,28
3,27
3,23
3,23
3,17
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43*
44
45
3,46
3,51
3,44
3,4
3,25
3,33
3,24
3,27
3,33
3,33
3,32
3,3
3,22
3,26
32
29
33**
35**
43
37
44
41
38
36**
39
40
45
42
3,37
3,44
3,45
3,35
3,34
3,36
3,24
3,23
3,3
3,22
3,26
3,41
3,18
3,18
35
32
30
37
38
36
41
42
39
43
40
33
45
44
34
31
33
35
38
36
43
42
39
40
41
37
45
44
**Altered wording or definition from 2013 to 2014.
76
2014
APPENDICES
77
FACTS ABOUT THE CMS
All responses in the CMS have been collected through a survey
using Norstat’s randomly selected, telephone-recruited and
nationally representative online panel.
Method: Online panel survey
Target population: Private individuals in Sweden
between 18 and 75 years old
who have recently purchased or
signed a contract for a product
(goods or services)
Number of markets: 45 (annually recurring)
Number of respondents per market: At least 500
Total number of respondents: 7,811 within 45 markets
Survey period: 12 September–21 October 2014
Questionnaire length/duration
(median time): 14 minutes
Aim
The Consumer Market Survey (CMS) provides the Consumer Report with information by highlighting the most
important aspects of consumer conditions in different
markets. It provides comparable consumer viewpoints in
45 markets representing the majority of household expenditure.
Questionnaire
The questionnaire is identical for all markets and consists
of 36 unique questions about the consumers’ experience of
their most recent purchase on the market in question. Some
adjustments were necessary for each market in order to facilitate the understanding of the questions, while otherwise
leaving the essential content of the questions unchanged. The
questions used to identify problematic markets are structured
as statements.
Respondents indicate their opinion with regard to the
statement by using a five-point scale where 1 means I do not
agree at all and 5 means I agree completely. All questions
included the response option don’t know/unsure/don’t remember.
Respondents answer questions about their experience of a specific purchase for a maximum of three markets.
78
KONSUMENTRAPPORTEN 2015
Selection of markets
For the CMS, we have chosen to investigate consumer conditions in 45 markets. The 45 markets have
primarily been chosen because they reflect both the
most common and the most important purchasing
areas for private individuals in Sweden. Together
they represent the majority of Swedish households’
total expenditure. In order to group different
purchases, we have primarily based our definition
on COICOP, which is currently the most accepted
classification system of markets from a consumer
perspective. COICOP stands for Classification of
Individual Consumption by Purpose.
Aspects taken into account in the selection of
the 45 markets were complaint statistics, financial
significance for households, and market complexity.
It was important to only select markets where a
sufficient proportion of the population had recently
made a purchase in order to effectively obtain
500 people in each market.
We also took into account whether the market
could be described briefly and precisely, to make it relevant
to the respondents, but also for the analysis of the results
and for comparisons with other information sources. Some
examples of consumer markets from COICOP that we have
deemed unsuitable for the survey are alcohol, tobacco, rental accommodation, education, postal services and pharmaceutical products (except for non-prescription medicines).
The markets selected for the CMS are described in the
appendix The 45 CMS markets.
Data collection and selection method
In 2010, the Swedish Consumer Agency conducted a pilot
study (please refer to the Swedish Consumer Agency Report
2010:26, only available in Swedish) to evaluate the choice of
data collection method used for the CMS. In a comparison
study between two data collection methods (traditional
telephone survey and online panel survey), it was determined
that the conclusions that could be drawn from the survey
results (i.e., ranking of markets) are essentially the same,
regardless of the collection method. This resulted in an
online panel survey becoming the selected method as it is
also significantly more cost-efficient.
Data for this year’s CMS has been obtained through the
survey company Norstat’s Guldpanel [Gold Panel] by me-
ans of an online survey. Panellists are recruited via continuous nationally representative telephone surveys. The panel
therefore does not consist of self-recruited respondents.
Reaching consumers with the relevant experience of a
purchase (i.e. the target population) was a two-step process.
Firstly, Norstat made a random sample of panel members
from their Guldpanel. The method involved a combination
of quotas based on gender, age and region in order to create
a nationally representative sample. In previous years, we
have seen that young people are under-represented in the
result, so for this year’s CMS we have introduced measures
to counteract this. We have therefore adopted the same
sampling procedure but with the modification that we have
increased the proportion of young people in the sampling
mailings, with 15 per cent of the total mailing. The selected panellists were then contacted via e-mail, and asked to
click on a web link to access the survey. We asked screening
questions at the beginning of the questionnaire in order to
ultimately reach consumers with the relevant experience.
Norstat sent up to three reminders, at three-day
intervals, to selected panel members who had
not answered the questionnaire.
Demographic profile of the
respondents
Here is a demographic breakdown of the consumers who participated in the CMS,
along with the corresponding proportion at
a national level for the age group 18-75. The
target population for the survey is people who
have recently bought or signed a contract for a
specific product (i.e. only a certain proportion
of the Swedish public). This partly explains the
differences between the demographic profile
of our survey and the population at large. Another explanation may be the choice of data
collection method; young people are generally
less willing to participate in surveys.
Presentation of data
The results in the report are presented as the percentage
that agree with a specific statement (options 4 and 5), as
well as the mean value of an aspect based on the five-point
scale 1–5 (the “don’t knows” have been excluded).
The results of the survey are presented as unweighted
data as there are no national statistics for individual
markets. We are therefore unable to present a market profile
of the survey respondents compared to national statistics.
Detailed results
For those wanting to find out more details on the implementation of the CMS, this is described in greater depth
in the report Data for Swedish Consumer Report 2015
(2015:5). The report also contains more detailed results
from the survey.
Gender, age and region of the respondents
Number of CMS
Percentage of
respondents (n) CMS respondents
(%)
Base: 18–75 years old
Percentage in
the Swedish
population (%)
7 811
Gender
Men
3 9475151
Women
3 8644949
Age
18–29 years old
1 694
22
22
30–49 years old
1 994
25
37
50–64 years old
2 190
28
25
65–75 years old
1 933
25
16
Region (NUTS)
Stockholm
1 6352122
East Middle Sweden
1 277
16
17
Småland and the islands
672
9
8
South Sweden
1 155
15
15
West Sweden 16332120
North Middle Sweden
721
9
9
Middle Norrland29044
Upper Norrland 42855
The source of the demographic data is Statistics Sweden’s statistics from 2013 (18–75 years old).
APPENDICES
79
81
Swedish Consumer Agency, Box 48, 651 02 Karlstad. Telephone: +46 (0)771-42 33 00.
www.konsumentverket.se
82

KonsumentrapportenThe Swedish Consumer Report 2015

Transcription

Similar documents

Svensk-Tysk Ordbok (Swedish Edition) - My

Read an extract of the report

Konsument Europa - Konsumentverket

Making entrepreneurship easy

Press - Stunt Records

scandi candy shops

to view the complete brochure

Winter 2013 - Scandinavian

May 2010 - New Sweden Cultural Heritage Society

Guide for you who will work in Sweden