TV provision is one of the worst services on offer in Malta, according to a survey of consumers carried out for the European Commission earlier this year.

Public transport is also one of Malta’s pet hates but, it must be pointed out, that refers to the old system, before the service was taken over by Arriva last July.

The annual EU Consumer Markets Scoreboard was carried out in May. It compiled information from national authorities, Eurostat data and a random sample of consumers to establish how the Single Market is working. It also sought to identify problems and bottlenecks in individual EU markets.

With public transport and cable and digital TV services provided by Go and Melita heading this year’s scoreboard, Maltese consumers thought they were even worse than water and electricity services, which were top of the scoreboard in 2010 and past editions.

On the other hand, the Maltese were very satisfied when it came to buying stationery and pharmaceutical products. They were also happy with airline, cultural and entertainment services.

The rankings given by consumers to different goods and services are based on a set of criteria that include the ease of comparing goods and services, consumers’ trust in retailers, problems and complaints, overall satisfaction and expectations, ease of switching and prices.

The Maltese consumer authorities last year received more than 6,000 complaints from consumers about product or services.

Throughout the EU, financial services, such as consumer credit and network services, particularly electricity, all performed below average. Investment services, including pensions and securities, real estate services and mortgages were the three lowest performing consumer markets.

On the other hand, the goods markets appear to be working much better across the EU. Exceptions include second-hand cars and vehicle fuels, which scored lowest in the goods category.