In conjunction with local authorities, and Citizens' Advice Bureaux, the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has set up a system for recording and classifying consumer complaints. OFT aggregates statistical returns that are made quarterly to produce national figures showing the pattern of consumer complaints, classified both by type of goods or service and by trading practice. Over 400,000 consumer complaints were recorded and classified for the first full 12‐month period during which the system operated, ending in September 1975. The system has two uses. First, it signals areas of difficulty for consumers which should be studied by OFT. Second, the records of individual consumer complaints held by local authorities provide a data base which can be drawn on when OFT is carrying out detailed studie