LITTLE ROCK – Of the more than 110,000 calls and emails received by the Attorney General’s Office in 2021, Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge today announced the top 10 most common consumer complaints. The announcement comes during the National Consumer Protection Week which is from March 6-12, 2022. In 2021, the Attorney General’s Office resolved 6,192 formal complaints. On behalf of consumers, the Attorney General’s Office recovered more than $3.5 million in 2021 compared to $2.8 million in 2020. To file a consumer complaint online, visit ArkansasAG.gov.
“I have continued to do the fighting for you as Attorney General and my office must keep hearing from you to better serve you and your families,” said Attorney General Rutledge. “Every consumer complaint is reviewed and addressed by my team to best determine how we can protect impacted Arkansans.”
National Consumer Protection Week is a partnership with attorneys general from across the country, along with many national organizations including the Better Business Bureau, Federal Trade Commission and AARP, to encourage consumers to understand their rights and make educated consumer decisions.
The 10 most common complaint categories from 2021 were:
Auto
Consumer goods
Scam
Home construction, maintenance & repair
Satellite, cable and internet services
Utilities
Consumer services
Health care
Banking, credit and other financial services
Landlord/tenant
Automobile-related complaints were one of the top issues reported to the Attorney General’s Office with 1160 complaints from consumers in 2021. These types of complaints often involve consumers reporting financing errors and high-pressure tactics to buy add-on services at the time of purchase, such as gap insurance, extended warranties and sales misrepresentations.
For more information and tips to avoid scams and other consumer-related issues, visit ArkansasAG.gov or facebook.com/AGLeslieRutledge or contact the Arkansas Attorney General’s Office at (800) 482-8982 or [email protected].
About Attorney General Leslie Rutledge
Leslie Carol Rutledge is the 56th Attorney General of Arkansas. Elected on November 4, 2014, and sworn in on January 13, 2015, she is the first woman and first Republican in Arkansas history to be elected as Attorney General. She was resoundingly re-elected on November 6, 2018. Since taking office, she has significantly increased the number of arrests and convictions against online predators who exploit children and con artists who steal taxpayer money through Social Security Disability and Medicaid fraud. Further, she has held Rutledge Roundtable meetings and Mobile Office hours in every county of the State each year, and launched a Military and Veterans Initiative. She has led efforts to roll back government regulations that hurt job creators, fight the opioid epidemic, teach internet safety, combat domestic violence and make the office the top law firm for Arkansans. Rutledge serves on committees for Consumer Protection, Criminal Law and Veterans Affairs for the National Association of Attorneys General. She also served as the former Chairwoman of the Republican Attorneys General Association.
A native of Batesville, she is a graduate of the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville and the University of Arkansas at Little Rock William H. Bowen School of Law. Rutledge clerked for the Arkansas Court of Appeals, was Deputy Counsel for former Governor Mike Huckabee, served as a Deputy Prosecuting Attorney in Lonoke County and was an Attorney at the Department of Human Services before serving as Counsel at the Republican National Committee. Rutledge and her husband, Boyce, have one daughter. The family has a home in Pulaski County and a farm in Crittenden County.