Sure is a lot of whining going on.



Consumer complaints to the Better Business Bureau (BBB) increased by 9.7 percent in 2009, according to an annual report released this week.



The organization received nearly 1 million complaints from unhappy consumers.



Stephen Cox, president and CEO of the Council for Better Business Bureaus, pointed to the troubled economy, high unemployment rate, the housing crisis and the chaos on Wall Street as the main causes for the increase in complaints.



“Now more than ever, struggling families should rely on BBB to find businesses they can trust and to help their voice be heard in the marketplace,” Cox said.



Cell phone service and equipment topped the list of top 10 industries by volume of consumer complaints in North America after 37,477 complaints were filed in 2009, a 2.1 percent increase.



Banks, though third on the list at 29,920, not surprisingly had a tough year. Complaints rose 42.3 percent for the industry.



“For the second year in a row, banks experienced a significant increase in complaints, coinciding with 140 bank failures in 2009,” said Cox. “Trust in the financial sector is already extremely low, and the dramatic increase in BBB complaints against banks reflects the growing discord between consumers and the industry.”



Also seeing increases were the television, cable TV and satellite industry, which came in at No. 2 after an 8.7 percent increase; Internet shopping at No. 5 after a 9.4 percent increase; used car auto dealers at No. 7 after a 2.5 percent increase; telephone companies at No. 8 after an 11.2 percent increase; and auto repair and service at No. 10 after a 9.5 percent increase.



New car dealer complaints declined 2.4 percent, putting the industry at No. 4 on the list, collection agencies declined 3.3 percent to No. 6 on the list and furniture-retail declined 2.9 percent to No. 9 on the list.



To see a full breakdown of the complaint statistics, click here.