NSW Fair Trading Commissioner Rod Stowe said the purpose of the register was to "empower consumers" while providing an incentive to businesses to remain accountable for their services. LJ Hooker offices around NSW were subject to 31 complaints in July. Credit:Chris Vedelago "The register encourages the marketplace to regulate itself, and publishing monthly allows businesses the chance to improve their complaint handling procedures," he said. But while the business community has been responsive to the idea of the register, not everyone agrees with how it has been structured, not least those at the top of the offenders list.

"I think it's unfair on consumers and offers them no direct benefit," said Chris Mourd, head of real estate at LJ Hooker, which topped the list with 31 complaints, 27 of which were tenancy-related. Mr Mourd argued that naming the brand LJ Hooker as the worst offender was unbalanced, because the 31 complaints all related to individual franchises, and not the business as a whole. Lincoln Indicators made a risk-adjusted call and removed Harvey Norman as a 'star stock'. Credit:Scott Barbour "We have 230 offices in NSW. That's less than 1.5 per cent of offices complained about," he said, adding that the company implemented its own "best in class" complaints system in 2014, that is compliant with every state in Australia. "How does a consumer know an individual office from another? Up until the last two weeks, Fair Trading has never shared any complaints information with us, so we were not aware of the 31 complaints in July."

Air Asia received 25 complaints in July, all related to its travel services. Credit:Oscar Siagian But Mr Stowe said he "made no apologies" for aggregating businesses under their brands. "That's what they use to advertise to consumers. I don't accept criticism that we are somehow misleading people." NSW Fair Trading Commissioner Rod Stowe said the purpose of the register was to "empower consumers." Credit:NSW Fair Trading On Wednesday the Real Estate Institute of NSW criticised the register, saying that it would unfairly tarnish reputable businesses.

"The register will simply be full of franchises and groups who, due to the popularity of their brand and their sheer size, will almost always have 10 consumer complaints per month," said REINSW president John Cunningham. "NSW Fair Trading has been negligent and reckless to apply a product based system to the service industries of NSW, thereby unfairly discrediting good businesses and, as such, is acting as one of the worst discriminators in NSW." Despite the criticism, Mr Stowe said Fair Trading could already see positive flow-on effects from the register. "If we had run this in March, we estimate we would have had 30-odd businesses on the list. But the good news is we spoke to all those businesses and shared our complaints and lots have improved dramatically," he said. "In my book it's already been a success. Several [businesses] have committed to never appearing on the register and have made wholesale changes to their business practices and dispute resolution protocols."

As a result of their ranking, LJ Hooker have agreed to maintain regular contact with a Fair Trading liaison. July's register includes 20 businesses, including a mix of real estate agents, home building businesses, online deal sites and retail stores. Among the more recognisable names on the list are Apple, Foxtel, NRMA and Flight Centre. A spokesman for AirAsia said the airline was full committed to high-quality customer service and compliance with Australian laws. "We are also implementing additional measures to improve productivity and to add convenience and comfort to our guests' travel experience," he said.

Harvey Norman was contacted for comment. Latest consumer news