THE city’s consumer council received 365 complaints against interior decoration services last year, up by 69 percent compared with 2015.

    Many consumers complained against home-furnishing merchants for selling substandard decoration materials to them. Decoration companies that hired ineligible decoration teams were also named by consumers, as their unprofessional work might expose consumers to potential hazards, such as indoor air pollution and other safety problems.

    Che Min, deputy head of the city’s decoration industry association, said that the mounting consumer complaints revealed that the main problems of the traditional decorating industry remain unsolved even after more and more capital has flowed into the market. Che believed it was necessary to formulate industrial standards to enhance the self-discipline of companies in the industry.

    The council also received 964 complaints about furniture companies last year, an increase of 23.3 percent compared with 2015, while a growing number of complaints were against children’s furniture and customized furniture.

    The main problems reported by consumers included safety issues, counterfeit products, poor after-sales services, furniture with unpleasant odors and false advertising.

    Yang Lina, deputy director of the city’s furniture industry association’s detection department, said that furniture with lingering odors is a big headache, as the existing industrial standards fail to cover some hazardous materials used by furniture manufacturers or supervise the quality of raw materials and production processes for furniture.

    (Zhang Yang)