Clothes, food and online service top list of holiday complaints

Clothing, food, and Internet services were some of the areas drawing the largest number of complaints from Shanghai consumers during the Qingming Festival holiday, the local market watchdog said.

Market regulators in the city received nearly 5,000 complaints via the nation's consumer protection service hotline 12315 over the three-day holiday, nearly a quarter of which were related to clothing and food, according to the Shanghai Administration for Market Regulation.

In terms of clothing and shoes, quality flaws, fake promotions and poor after-sales customer service drew the ire of consumers. Food-related complaints included slow delivery times, safety issues and not being able to redeem coupons.

Another 375 complaints related to Internet services, including missing eSports inventory, virtual assets and blocked accounts, as well as broadband access failure.

Nearly 300 complaints were triggered by dubious online-shopping sales promotions and prepaid services.

The number of complaints about transportation, accommodations and catering increased slightly from 2019 — reaching more than 300 — mostly concerning ticketing and booking disputes.

The complaints are being handled by market regulators and consumer councils.