REVEALED: Doncaster residents made more than 500, 000 complaints about shoddy service to Ombudsman Service last year

New figures released by the Ombudsman Services, which attempts to resolve complaints that have been ongoing for more than eight weeks, showed the most common gripes related to billing issues or problems with money transfers. In addition, members of the public made 787 complaints about their energy suppliers last year, up by 14 per cent from 2014, and a further 249 gripes were registered against communications firms.

The number of complaints was much higher than the national average of 1.1 per person.

But the Ombudsman Services estimates a further 500, 000 complaints could have been made about poor service but were not - leaving many consumers without compensation or missing out on having the problem fixed.

The organisation said the estimate is based on a wide-ranging survey in which consumers were asked about examples of poor service they have been subjected to but not complained about. The figures were released as part of the third annual consumer action monitor, which revealed there were 52 million complaints made in the UK last year. However, the report said there were still about 66 million issues that were not acted on.

Chief ombudsman Lewis Shand Smith said: “We’re still seeing consumers ignore millions of problems each year because they’d rather suffer in silence than go through the perceived hassle of complaining – but it’s not as complex and time-consuming as they might think. Those living in Doncaster are actively standing up for their consumer rights, but there’s still more that can be done by businesses to make alternative dispute resolution more accessible.”