NCAC NEWS(Vol.8,No.2)
On Consumer Counseling Related to E.coli 0157
There has been an epidemic of food poisoning caused by E.coli 0157 in various parts of Japan, starting in May of this year, with thousands of infected patients. Due to this emergency, a large number of inquiries and counseling cases have been received by local consumer centers.
Inquiries and requests for advice and counseling related to hygiene and how to deal with E.coli 0157 were directed mainly to medical institutions and public health centers. Local consumer centers, on the other hand, have received counseling cases related to E.coli 0157 such as complaints on "quick and dirty businesses" and unethical business methods that take advantage of consumers' anxiety and other problems in the area of consumption.
As of the end of August, 72 counseling cases had been received, according to the data collected by NCAC. The contents of these cases were as follows:
- 13 cases:
- Counseling cases related to unethical business methods that take advantage of anxiety of consumers. (An example: pyramid and quasi-pyramid selling method for water purifiers that claim "to remove E.coli 0157". )
- 3 cases:
- Counseling cases related to shortages of antiseptic soap, sterilizing ethanol soap, and price increases that take advantage of the situation.
- 14 cases:
- Counseling cases regarding various types of consumers' transactions other than the above.
- 11 cases:
- Inquiries on merchandise with sterilizing and antiseptic effects and about methods of acquiring them.
- 13 cases:
- Inquiries about safety of foods and safe cooking methods and methods of preservation.
- 8 cases:
- Inquiries related to general knowledge about protective measures against E.coli 0157.
- 10 cases:
- Others (Example: How to obtain pamphlets that explain protective measures)
Overview of Nationwide Statistics on Consumer Counseling in FY 1995
1. Trends in total number of counseling cases received in FY 1995
The total number of counseling cases received by consumer centers and consumer organizations across the country in FY 1995(April 1995 - March 1996) was 499,857, as shown in Table 1. The number of counseling cases was an incr ease of 51,583 cases (11.5%) over the previous year. The total number of cases has been rising since 1991.
The number of ordinary types of counseling cases referred to NCAC totaled 6,944. In addition, there were 917 cases referred to "Telephone Counseling on Home Contracts" and 494 cases referred to "Telephone Counseling on Telemarketing Fraud and Abuse," both of which were set up for a specific period of time.
Local consumer centers received 489,148 counseling cases, which is an increase of 52,095 cases from the previous year. By prefecture, the counseling cases increased in 45 prefectures and decreased in 2 prefectures.
The total number of counseling cases brought to the consumer organizations decreased by 151 to 3,765 cases.
2. Trends in Number of Counseling Cases by Product and Service
In FY 1995, it was possible to classify 475,626 of the total 499,857 counseling cases. Table 2 shows the trends in the number of counseling cases over the past four years by products, services, and others. The component ratio to the total number that can be classified is product-related cases 52.2%, service-related cases 43.6%, other cases 4.2%. The number of complaints received totaled 343,110 cases or 72.2% of the total classifiable cases, and this ratio has been increasing for the past several years.
Regarding the type of complaint, the ratio of complaints about "products" was 53.2%, followed by "services" at 45.9% and "other" at 0.9%.
Number of Counseling Cases by Major Categories of Product and Service
Tables 3 and 4 show the number of counseling cases from FY 1992 to FY 1995. In FY 1995, compared to the previous year, cases related to "products" increased by 14.2% and those related to "services" increased by 13.8%.
For the major categories of products, most were concerned with "cultural and entertainment products," which accounted for 70,979 cases. "Household products" resulted in 47,716 cases, and "clothing" 31,238 cases.
The rate of increase from the previous year was particularly large for "cultural and entertainment products(21.2%)" and "products in general(20.9%)" (cases involving some type of product, but whose contents could not or need not be specified) and "health and sanitary products(20.6%)".
For the products, the number of counseling cases related to all items has been increasing from the previous year. Next, among the "services" cases, the largest number of counseling cases was received for "cultural and entertainment services" with 51,504 cases, followed by "financial and insurance services" with 37,823 cases, and "rental and lease services" with 19,236 cases.
Also, the rate of increase from the previous year was registered for "homework, side business, market speculation(53.2%)", "transportation and communication services(37.3%)", "services in general (counseling cases related to services, whose content could not or need not be specified further) (20.4%)".
Number of Counseling Cases by Subcategory
From the number of counseling cases by major classification items, let us analyze more closely the trends in the detailed classification items from FY 1992 to FY 1995. The largest number of counseling cases registered each year was related to "lessons and lectures" such as courses to acquire licenses (qualifications) and foreign language classes.
In the past three years, there has been no change in the ranking of the top three categories.
The highest rate of increase from the previous year was registered by categories such as "travel agency business(80.1%)", "homework, side business, market speculation(68.1%)", "other transportation and ommunication(59.4%)" which includes broadcasting service and telephone information service, etc.
3. Type of Counseling
The breakdown of counseling cases is shown in Table 5 below.
Out of all the counseling cases that could be classified, the cases related to products and services were classified by content into 15 types.
When counseling covers multiple items, then multiple counting of up to four items per case was carried out. With regard to "other counseling",cases were not classified by the specific content.
From FY 1992 to FY 1995, out of all counseling cases that could be classified, cases related to "contract/cancellation" were most numerous. This was followed by "selling method", "quality, function, and service quality", and "prices and fees".
As for trends in the share, "contract/cancellation" and "selling method" are increasing slightly, while the number of cases related to "safety, hygiene", and "quality, function, and service quality" are declining slightly.
In 1995, out of all the cases related to products and services that could be classified, the largest number involved "contract/cancellation(54.7%)", followed by "selling method(30.6%)", and "quality, function, and service quality(17.5%)".
4. Special selling methods
Table 6 shows classifiable counseling cases related to special selling methods such as "door-to-door sales", "mail-order sales", and "pyramid and quasi-pyramid sales".
The criteria for classifying door-to-door and mail-order sales include selling methods that are defined in Article 2 of the Law Concerning Door-to-Door Sales as well as other similar methods, for example, telemarketing is classified as mail-order selling. As for "pyramid and quasi-pyramid sales", chain-selling is stipulated under Article 11 of the Law Concerning Door-to-Door Sales as well as other similar methods. "Other types of non-store retail" in Table 6 refer to non-store sales such as those for more than two days at exhibitions, i.e., selling methods that are not covered by the indicated three types.
The number of counseling cases related to special selling in FY 1995 totaled 183,664 cases. This was 38.6% of all counseling cases that could be classified(475,626 cases), the rate of increase from the previous year was 19.3%.
"Mail-order sales" increased dramatically from the previous year by 29.8%, which is a faster rate of increase than before. We can infer that this resulted from a large number of counseling cases related to "telemarketing fraud and abuse" of certificationqualification courses, and "homework, side businesses, market speculation" that consumers apply for by mail or telephone.
5. Methods of payments
Out of all the counseling cases brought during FY 1995, methods of payments accounted for 192,512 cases. In these cases, "cash payment" formed the largest group at 47.1%, followed by the method of "purchases involving three parties or more" 43.8%, where parties other than those directly involved in the transaction such as credit companies become involved, while "installment credit by the company itself" accounted for 0.2%.
6. Trends in Counseling Cases By Prefecture, Government Designated Cities and Municipalities (Cities, Towns and Villages)
In terms of the increase in the number of counseling cases in comparison with the previous year, the number increased 14.7% at service desks of prefectures, 6.3% at service desks of government designated cities, and 17.6% at service desks of municipalities.
Table 1.
| year | local government consumer centers | consumer organization | National Consumer Affairs Center of Japan | Total | Increase over previous year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 change over the previous year(%) | 11.9 | - 3.9 | - 4.9 | 11.5 | 11.5 |
| 1975 | 127,435 | 14,470 | 4,554 | 146,459 | 10.7 |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 80 | 176,662 | 12,975 | 5,381 | 195,018 | 6.4 |
| 81 | 198,441 | 2,855 | 6,516 | 207,812 | 6.6 |
| 82 | 226,298 | 3,710 | 6,708 | 236,716 | 13.9 |
| 83 | 254,520 | 3,191 | 6,580 | 264,291 | 11.6 |
| 84 | 314,608 | 3,700 | 5,933 | 324,241 | 22.7 |
| 85 | 366,424 | 3,611 | 6,367 (733) | 377,135 | 16.3 |
| 86 | 368,102 | 3,262 | 6,326 (1,592) | 379,282 | 0.6 |
| 87 | 365,188 | 3,688 | 4,715 | 373,591 | - 1.5 |
| 88 | 344,542 | 2,819 | 4,940 (960) | 353,261 | - 5.4 |
| 89 | 346,755 | 3,475 | 6,267 (757) | 357,254 | 1.1 |
| 90 | 331,859 | 4,017 | 5,969 (756) | 342,601 | - 4.1 |
| 91 | 346,965 | 3,146 | 5,950 (791) | 356,852 | 4.2 |
| 92 | 381,712 | 3,031 | 6,722 (1,295) | 392,760 | 10.1 |
| 93 | 422,176 | 3,875 | 7,315 (720) | 434,086 | 10.5 |
| 94 | 437,053 | 3,916 | 6,742 (563) | 448,274 | 3.3 |
| 95 | 489,148 | 3,765 | 6,944 | 499,857 | 11.5 |
Note:
- The figures represent the total number of cases received by all agencies including unclassified cases.
- The figures for the number of cases received by consumer organizations after 1983 are the total number of cases re ceived by the Consumption Science Federation (˜1993), the Japan Consumers' Association and Japan Housewives Association.
- Of the cases received by the NCAC, the figures in parentheses for 1985 represent the number of cases received in t he "Dial 110 on Toyota Shoji Affair", for 1986 - the number received for the "Dial 110 on Mortgage Securities and Future T ransactions", for 1988 "Dial 110 on Credit Trouble" and "Dial 110 on Mail Order Selling", for 1989 "Dial 110 on Credit" an d "Dial 110 on Unethical Telephone Sales", for 1990 "Dial 110 on Fraudulent Investment Practices", for 1991 "Dial 110 on P ackage Tour Troubles" and "Dial 110 on Troubles Related to Personal Credit Report", for 1992 "Dial 110 on Troubles with Ba nks" and "Dial 110 on Aesthetic Salon Trouble", for 1993 "Dial 110 on Troubles with Banks" and for 1994 "Consumer Telephon e Counseling Related to the Earthquake Disaster(toll-free)".
Table 2.
| year | No. of cases | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total no. received | Classifiable cases | Product | Service | Other counseling | |
| 1992 | 392,760 | 363,098 (100.0) | 187,261 (51.6) | 157,075 (43.3) | 18,762 (5.2) |
| 1993 | 434,086 | 402,865 (100.0) | 213,447 (53.0) | 171,526 (42.6) | 17,892 (4.4) |
| 1994 | 448,274 | 417,583 (100.0) | 217,142 (52.0) | 182,401 (43.7) | 18,040 (4.3) |
| 1995 | 499,857 | 475,626 (100.0) | 247,981 (52.2) | 207,499 (43.6) | 20,146 (4.2) |
Note:
- The figures in parentheses represent the ratio of product, service and other counseling in relation to the total number of classified cases.
Table 3.
| Product | year | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1992 | 1993 | 1994 | 1995 | 1995 increase over the previous year(%) | |
| Total products | 187,261 (100.0) |
213,447 (100.0) |
217,142 (100.0) |
247,981 (100.0) |
14.2 |
| Products unspecified | 5,224 (2.8) |
8,275 (3.9) |
6,893 (3.2) |
8,335 (3.4) |
20.9 |
| Food products | 21,937 (11.7) |
28,468 (13.3) |
23,238 (10.7) |
25,710 (10.4) |
10.6 |
| Household products | 43,347 (23.2) |
47,258 (22.1) |
47,096 (21.7) |
47,716 (19.2) |
1.3 |
| Light, heat andwaterrelated products | 3,410 (1.8) |
3,378 (1.6) |
3,428 (1.6) |
3,701 (1.5) |
8.0 |
| Clothing | 25,242 (13.5) |
26,955 (12.6) |
26,544 (12.2) |
31,238 (12.6) |
17.7 |
| Health and sanitary products | 21,423 (11.4) |
22,198 (10.4) |
21,512 (9.9) |
25,945 (10.5) |
20.6 |
| Cultural / entertainment products | 41,808 (22.3) |
50,065 (23.5) |
58,577 (27.0) |
70,979 (28.6) |
21.2 |
| Vehicles, transportation equipment | 12,402 (6.6) |
12,913 (6.1) |
13,476 (6.2) |
15,592 (6.3) |
15.7 |
| Land, building, equipment | 11,983 (6.4) |
13,301 (6.2) |
15,820 (7.3) |
18,119 (7.3) |
14.5 |
| Other products | 485 (0.3) |
636 (0.3) |
558 (0.3) |
646 (0.2) |
15.8 |
Note:
- Because 20,146 cases under "other counseling" are not classified by the content, they are excluded from this table. The figures in parentheses represent the component ratio.
Table 4.
| Service | year | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1992 | 1993 | 1994 | 1995 | 1995 increase over the previous year(%) | |
| Total service | 157,075 (100.0) |
171,526 (100.0) |
182,401 (100.0) |
207,499 (100.0) |
13.8 |
| Cleaning | 15,129 (9.6) |
15,135 (8.8) |
14,331 (7.9) |
15,124 (7.3) |
5.5 |
| Rental, and lease services | 13,539 (8.6) |
14,538 (8.5) |
19,602 (10.7) |
19,236 (9.3) |
-1.9 |
| Construction, building, processing | 9,584 (6.1) |
11,162 (6.5) |
14,171 (7.8) |
16,353 (7.9) |
15.4 |
| Repair, maintenance | 5,651 (3.6) |
6,293 (3.7) |
6,918 (3.8) |
7,502 (3.6) |
8.4 |
| Management, safekeeping | 369 (0.2) |
375 (0.2) |
463 (0.3) |
460 (0.2) |
-0.6 |
| Service unspecified | 88 (0.1) |
80 (0.1) |
2,813 (1.5) |
3,386 (1.6) |
20.4 |
| Financial and insurance services | 34,306 (21.8) |
32,892 (19.2) |
32,095 (17.6) |
37,823 (18.2) |
17.8 |
| Transportation and communication services | 5,935 (3.8) |
6,949 (4.1) |
7,201 (3.9) |
9.886 (4.8) |
37.3 |
| Educational services | 4,114 (2.6) |
3,260 (1.9) |
3,527 (1.9) |
3,888 (1.9) |
10.2 |
| Cultural and entertainment services | 36,343 (23.1) |
47,271 (27.6) |
46,318 (25.4) |
51,504 (24.8) |
11.2 |
| Health and wefare services | 15,986 (10.2) |
15,719 (9.2) |
14,407 (7.9) |
15,820 (7.6) |
9.8 |
| Other services |
9,614 (6.1) |
9,628 (5.6) |
11,767 (6.5) |
13,587 (6.6) |
15.5 |
| Homework, side business, market speculation | 5,572 (3.6) |
7,300 (4.3) |
7,613 (4.2) |
11,662 (5.6) |
53.2 |
| Other administrative serices | 845 (0.5) |
924 (0.5) |
1,175 (0.6) |
1,268 (0.6) |
7.9 |
Note:
- The 20,146 cases of "other counseling" are not classified by the content, so they are excluded from this table. Figures in the parentheses represent the ratio of the total.
- In 1994, because of changing classification, "Service unspecified" increses in number.
Table 5.
| year | 1992 | 1993 | 1994 | 1995 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Classifiable cases | 187,261 | 213,447 | 217,142 | 247,981 |
| Safety, hygiene | 12,782 (6.8) |
12,421 (5.8) |
12,381 (5.7) |
13,549 (5.5) |
| Quality, function, service quality | 43,947 (23.5) |
46,301 (21.7) |
46,325 (21.3) |
51,865 (20.9) |
| Law, standards | 6,222 (3.3) |
7,549 (3.5) |
7,154 (3.3) |
8,384 (3.4) |
| Price, fees | 19,837 (10.6) |
25,596 (12.0) |
25,582 (11.8) |
29,618 (11.9) |
| Weight, volume | 553 (0.3) |
727 (0.3) |
577 (0.3) |
655 (0.3) |
| Labeling, advertising | 5,856 (3.1) |
7,932 (3.7) |
7,608 (3.5) |
8,841 (3.6) |
| Selling method | 56,842 (30.4) |
70,746 (33.1) |
73,003 (33.6) |
88,817 (35.8) |
| Contract / cancellation | 94,546 (50.5) |
110,766 (51.9) |
116,517 (53.7) |
136,009 (54.8) |
| Customer service | 15,856 (8.5) |
17,430 (8.2) |
16,769 (7.7) |
20,444 (8.2) |
| Packaging, containers | 356 (0.2) |
368 (0.2) |
335 (0.2) |
368 (0.1) |
| Facilities, equipment | 229 (0.1) |
204 (0.1) |
239 (0.1) |
274 (0.1) |
| Shopping counseling | 11,619 (6.2) |
12,830 (6.0) |
10,867 (5.0) |
10,556 (4.3) |
| Knowledge related to living | 8,948 (4.8) |
8,481 (4.0) |
8,005 (3.7) |
7,901 (3.2) |
| Others | 5,369 (2.9) |
5,827 (2.7) |
5,689 (2.6) |
6,086 (2.5) |
| year | 1992 | 1993 | 1994 | 1995 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Classifiable cases | 157,075 | 171,526 | 182,401 | 207,499 |
| Safety, hygiene | 2,381 (1.5) |
2,133 (1.2) |
2,043 (1.1) |
2,282 (1.1) |
| Quality, function, service quality | 27,397 (17.4) |
29,147 (17.0) |
27,268 (14.9) |
31,379 (15.1) |
| Law, standards | 9,924 (6.3) |
10,823 (6.3) |
10,533 (5.8) |
10,775 (5.2) |
| Price, fees | 20,115 (12.8) |
22,620 (13.2) |
25,299 (13.9) |
27,396 (13.2) |
| Weight, volume | 93 (0.1) |
107 (0.1) |
116 (0.1) |
144 (0.1) |
| Labeling, advertising | 2,526 (1.6) |
3,883 (2.3) |
4,180 (2.3) |
5,310 (2.6) |
| Selling method | 34,172 (21.8) |
43,915 (25.6) |
47,391 (26.0) |
56,561 (27.3) |
| Contract / cancellation | 95,956 (61.1) |
104,088 (60.7) |
110,854 (60.8) |
124,210 (59.9) |
| Customer service | 20,560 (13.1) |
21,375 (12.5) |
20,511 (11.2) |
23,341 (11.2) |
| Packaging, containers | 32 (0.0) |
40 (0.0) |
42 (0.0) |
39 (0.0) |
| Facilities, equipment | 229 (0.2) |
243 (0.1) |
270 (0.1) |
287 (0.1) |
| Shopping counseling | 6,465 (4.1) |
7,246 (4.2) |
7,547 (4.1) |
8,583 (4.1) |
| Knowledge related to living | 3,789 (2.4) |
3,796 (2.2) |
3,810 (2.1) |
4,496 (2.2) |
| Others | 7,597 (4.8) |
7,254 (4.2) |
7,760 (4.3) |
8,409 (4.1) |
| year | 1992 | 1993 | 1994 | 1995 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Classifiable cases | 18,762 | 17,892 | 18,040 | 20,146 |
| year | 1992 | 1993 | 1994 | 1995 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Classifiable cases | 363,098 | 402,865 | 417,583 | 475,626 |
| Safety, hygiene | 15,206 (4.2) |
14,584 (3.6) |
14,424 (3.5) |
15,831 (3.3) |
| Quality, function, service quality | 71,410 (19.7) |
75,525 (18.8) |
73,593 (17.6) |
83,244 (17.5) |
| Law, standards | 16,446 (4.5) |
18,673 (4.6) |
17,687 (4.2) |
19,159 (4.0) |
| Price, fees | 40,179 (11.1) |
48,381 (12.0) |
50,881 (12.2) |
57,014 (12.0) |
| Weight, volume | 648 (0.2) |
838 (0.2) |
693 (0.2) |
799 (0.2) |
| Labeling, advertising | 8,408 (2.3) |
11,838 (2.9) |
11,788 (2.8) |
14,151 (3.0) |
| Selling method | 91,104 (25.1) |
114,726 (28.5) |
120,394 (28.8) |
145,378 (30.6) |
| Contract / cancellation | 190,840 (52.6) |
215,177 (53.4) |
227,371 (54.4) |
260,219 (54.7) |
| Customer service | 36,521 (10.1) |
38,917 (9.7) |
37,280 (8.9) |
43,785 (9.2) |
| Packaging, containers | 392 (0.1) |
410 (0.1) |
377 (0.1) |
407 (0.1) |
| Facilities, equipment | 470 (0.1) |
462 (0.1) |
509 (0.1) |
561 (0.1) |
| Shopping counseling | 18,146 (5.0) |
20,127 (5.0) |
18,414 (4.4) |
19,139 (4.0) |
| Knowledge related to living | 13,509 (3.7) |
12,948 (3.2) |
11,815 (2.8) |
12,397 (2.6) |
| Others | 14,214 (3.9) |
14,282 (3.6) |
13,449 (3.2) |
14,495 (3.0) |
Note:
- The breakdown for each category represents multiple counting.
Figures in parentheses represent the ratio of the total number of cases recieved. The sum does not total up to 100%.
Table 6.
| Selling | year | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1992 | 1993 | 1994 | 1995 | 1995 increase over the previous year(%) | |
| Total | 114,763 (100.0) |
145,519 (100.0) |
154,015 (100.0) |
183,664 (100.0) |
19.3 |
| Door-to-door sales | 67,275 (58.6) |
77,562 (53.3) |
86,062 (55.9) |
97,324 (53.0) |
13.1 |
| Mail-order sales | 32,791 (28.6) |
49,366 (33.9) |
53,634 (34.8) |
69,625 (37.9) |
29.8 |
| Pyramid and quasi-pyramid sales | 10,633 (9.3) |
14,505 (10.0) |
9,629 (6.3) |
11,506 (6.3) |
19.5 |
| Other non - store retail | 4,064 (3.5) |
4,086 (2.8) |
4,690 (3.0) |
5,209 (2.8) |
11.1 |
Note:
- Figures in parentheses represent the ratio of the total.
