A total of 6,850 cases were received by Consumer Council in 2011, 1,689 were complaints, 4,987 were inquiries and the rest of 147 cases were suggestions from consumers. Telecommunication services marked the top category among the almost 1,700 complaints received by the Council, and over half of the 261 complaints under this category involved mobile phone services. Among those complaints, 60% involved price issues such as roaming charges and data fees, as consumers were not aware of new charges levied by telecommunication service operators after the discounted price offered in their contracts expired. Telecommunication service operators have been informed regarding this phenomenon and requested to state clearly their service plans details as well as their terms and conditions, reminders about contract expiration are also needed to be sent to consumers. Telecommunication equipment and supplies marked the second top category with 158 complaints, 98 cases of which involved quality, price, and after-sales service of mobile phones; the number of cases had increased by 7% compared to last year's statistics. Number of complaints regarding photographic equipment supplies had also increased by 7% in 2011. Another category with the most complaints was food and beverage. In comparison with last year's figures, the number of complaints received (149 cases) in 2011 has increased by 45% due to the salt incident and insufficient supply of infant formula happened in 2011. Other categories with notable increase in the number of complaints were tourism, personal hygienic services and products, entertainment, medicine and Chinese herbal medicine, and food and beverage. The number of complaints of all the above categories have increased by 70% to 100% compared to last year's figures. For group buying, the Council only received 9 complaint cases in 2011 and all were about the cessation of business of Macao Dragon. Consumer Council indicated that the number of complaints in public transport category boomed to around 1,400 cases in 2010 due to Viva Macau's shut down, and Viva Macau alone accounted for almost 1,200 cases in 2010. Aside from Viva Macau, the number of complaints and inquiries during these two years has changed just lightly. Tourist cases accounted for around 22% of total complaints. Among the 380 cases received from tourists, 206 involved telecommunication equipment and supplies, watches and clocks, food and beverage, photographic equipment and clothing and apparel.
