Apple, Samsung and Android Enjoyed are Christmas' most complained-about companies: NSW Fair Trading

Samsung was named the most complained-about business in NSW in the lead-up to Christmas, with Apple and web retailer Android Enjoyed also copping flak from consumers.

The NSW Fair Trading’s consumer complaints register for November recorded 28 complaints against Samsung, while Android and Apple were tied at second place with 26 complaints.

The results follow a disastrous year for Samsung, which undertook a worldwide recall of its Galaxy Note7 smartphones in September after reports some devices had exploded while on charge. The Note7 product was then officially discontinued in October after fresh reports of fires in replacement devices prompted new warnings from regulators, phone carriers and airlines.

Samsung is expected to announce the results of an investigation into the causes of the device fires this month, according to Reuters.

Web retailer Android Enjoyed found itself under heightened scrutiny in September when NSW Fair Trading issued a warning to consumers, urging them to avoid dealing with the business’ parent company Digital Skies Group.

Complaints registered against Android Enjoyed were primarily related to the quality of goods sold, the acceptance of payment without supplying goods and supplying goods not suitable for the Australian market.

Fair Trading was concerned that it was unable to contact the Hong Kong-based company before issuing the warning. Digital Skies has since engaged a PR consultant and commenced its crisis management protocol to address the complaints.

An Android Enjoyed spokesperson last month told CRN the company was working with the NSWFT and that many of the complaints would have stemmed from deliveries around Black Friday and Christmas sales.

"Many of the complaints we have received have been due to slow delivery time, and as our courier service has gotten more and more busy we have been tasking new services to pick up the slack," he said.

"We have signed a legal undertaking with NSWFT and have been working to the legal requests they have made."

In October, Apple reported an annual revenue decline for the first time since 2001. For the 12 months to 24 September, the tech giant’s revenue came in at US$215.6 billion (A$281 billion), a drop of 7.7 percent year-on-year.

Falling sales of Apple's major product lines: iPhone, iPad and Mac, were responsible for the decline. Mac sales dropped 10.3 percent year-over-year. The company hopes to bolster its revenue next year, with its new lineup of MacBooks announced in October.

Reseller Harvey Norman, sales aggregator Groupon and electronics and whitegoods retailer The Good Guys were also among the most complained about companies, with 23, 17 and 15 complaints respectively.

NSW Fair Trading Commissioner Rod Stowe said the complaints register had proven a valuable tool for consumers.

“Since the launch of the Complaints Register in August, we have remained committed to providing this open data source so that the rest of the community has access to the same information Fair Trading has on the complaints track record of the most complained about traders in NSW,” he said.