SERNAC complaints: which companies and sectors receive the most consumer complaints in Chile
SERNAC complaints: retail accounts for 21%, followed by financial services (18%) and telecommunications (15%). Which companies top each ranking.
· 3 min read
Between January and late August 2025, consumers filed around 430,000 complaints with SERNAC, Chile's national consumer agency, according to the agency itself. Retail was the most complained-about sector, with 21%, followed by financial services (18%) and telecommunications (15%).
SERNAC complaints are one of the few public data sources showing how companies treat their customers. In this story we review which sectors and companies collect the most complaints, for what reasons, and what that says about consumption in Chile.
SERNAC complaints by sector: retail leads
Three sectors account for more than half of the country's complaints: retail (21%), financial services (18%) and telecommunications (15%). The order changes by region. In the Santiago Metropolitan Region, for example, utilities lead (35%), followed by financial services (23%), telecommunications (11%), retail (8%) and transport (5%), according to the 2025 regional report.
| Region | Top sector | Second | Third |
|---|---|---|---|
| Metropolitan | Utilities (35%) | Financial services (23%) | Telecommunications (11%) |
| Tarapacá | Telecommunications (20.5%) | Financial services (18.5%) | General retail (15.8%) |
| Arica y Parinacota | Financial services (21.92%) | Telecommunications (20.78%) | General retail (15.57%) |
Sources: SERNAC, 2025 regional reports: Metropolitan, Tarapacá and Arica y Parinacota.
Companies with the most e-commerce complaints
SERNAC publishes company rankings after each online shopping event. These are the two most recent:
| Company | CyberDay 2026 | Black Friday 2025 |
|---|---|---|
 Falabella.com / Tiendas Falabella |
7.96% and 6.29% | 32% |
 Cencosud (Paris) |
7.91% | 8.6% |
 Lider.cl |
6.00% | 7.2% (non-participant) |
 Sodimac |
3.95% | 11% |
 Ripley |
Not in the top 5 | 9.6% |
 Mercado Libre |
Not in the top 5 | 7.2% |
Share of each event's total complaints. In CyberDay 2026, Falabella.com-Linio had 7.96% and Tiendas Falabella 6.29%. Sources: SERNAC, CyberDay 2026 and SERNAC, Black Friday 2025.
CyberDay 2026 drew 2,099 complaints: 63.9% against participating companies and 36.1% against non-participants. The most complained-about categories were clothing, perfumes and cosmetics, footwear, groceries and furniture.
A key point when reading these rankings: SERNAC counts only complaint volume, without considering how many sales each company made. Larger stores, which sell more, tend to collect more complaints.
Why consumers complain
The reasons repeat from one event to the next:
- Unilateral cancellations of orders, almost always due to "lack of stock" not reported before charging.
- Misleading advertising and promotions not honored.
- Late deliveries or orders that never arrive.
Outside retail, the pattern is different. In car insurance, SERNAC received 2,172 complaints in the second half of 2025, and the main reason was refusal to pay the claim (39%), according to its August 2026 ranking. Half of those complaints (50.5%) were resolved in the consumer's favor.
What complaints say about consumption in Chile
SERNAC complaints work like a thermometer: they rise where consumption grows fast and companies can't keep up. E-commerce is the clearest case. Online sales keep growing, as we showed in our story on online shopping in Chile, and with them, stock and delivery problems.
For brands, a complaint is also data. Companies that analyze customer complaints alongside their sales and service can spot failures before they grow, a core practice of data-driven marketing.
What it means for you
- Complaining works: in 2025, nearly 50% of complaints in Arica y Parinacota and nearly 40% in the Metropolitan Region were resolved in the consumer's favor. Go to the company first and, if it doesn't respond, to sernac.cl or 800 700 100. Check your consumer rights on Black Friday before buying.
- Read rankings in context: a store with more complaints isn't always worse; it may just sell more. Look at the reasons.
- If you run a business, track your complaints: cancellation rate, delays and complaints per 1,000 sales are indicators worth following like any other KPI.
Sources
- SERNAC complaints
- SERNAC
- complaints ranking
- consumer rights
- retail
- e-commerce