Consumers finding plenty to complain about

Cultural and entertainment services, fitness, and catering and accommodation services were the hotbed of complaints in the first quarter of the year, Shanghai's consumer council revealed on Tuesday. 

The council received 52,080 complaints in the first quarter, with 44 percent about commodities and the rest related to services. 

Clothing, household items and home appliances topped the list of commodities complaints, while transport, education and training, culture, entertainment and sports, fitness and catering had the largest number of complaints in terms of services. 

Surging demand for culture and entertainment led to 1,198 complaints about tickets, mainly involving refunds and failure to redeem pre-paid tickets, the council said. 

Another 1,827 were about fitness, with complaints in this area growing year on year.  

Some fitness agencies changed coaches randomly, and some consumers said they found it difficult to reserve classes or they encountered poor services and sought a refund, the council said. 

Some promises by fitness service providers such as free admission to swimming pools were not fulfilled, also angering consumers.

Delays in refunds in such cases also led to complaints. 

There were nearly 2,500 complaints about catering and accommodation services with fake promotions and failure in making reservations for already purchased products the major problems. 

In some cases, restaurants required diners to scan a code to order instead of providing menus, which led consumers complaining this infringed their privacy as giving personal information was usually involved in the process, the council said.