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Violations of Florida’s “Do Not Call” law in 2007 once again led the list of written complaints filed with Florida’s Agriculture and Consumer Services, Commissioner Charles H. Bronson has announced. However, the number of complaints dropped by more than 500 from the previous year.

Bronson releases the list of top 10 complaints each year so people will have a better idea of the types of consumer issues and crimes that are impacting the state and can take steps to protect themselves. The department is the clearinghouse for consumer complaints in Florida, regulating 11 industries from travel to telemarketing, and mediating complaints against unregulated businesses.

“We have been able to assist a lot of people who were victims,” Bronson said. “But it is always better to educate people about their rights and responsibilities as consumers so they won’t be targeted in the first place.”

More than 25,000 complaints were filed with the department in calendar year 2007 and the department was able to recover nearly $4.7 million for consumers. All categories received fewer complaints than the previous year.

The top 10 complaint categories are:

• “Do Not Call” violations     4,223 complaints
• Travel/vacation plans    2,494 complaints
• Communication issues    1,960 complaints
• Motor vehicle repair    1,664 complaints
• Credit/banking    1,623 complaints
• Construction    1,259 complaints
• Motor vehicle sales/accessories    1,214 complaints
• Other telemarketing calls    1,104 complaints
• Electronic equipment    754 complaints
• Landlord/tenant issues    746 complaints