Buying a product at a reduced price does not mean reduced rights
Even the most untempted by promotional offers will find it difficult to pass up the reduced discounts in November. We are familiar with the name “Black Friday”, but they are far from just one day or week, and enterprising marketers try to attract our attention with various advertising messages and tricks.
Are you reading the fine print though? And if sometimes the not so big discount is not a particular problem, then the outright fraud such as paid but missing goods, for example, definitely already is.
In our country, the Consumer Protection Commission takes care of our shopping rights. However, shopping has long “crossed” borders now it is between and permanently follows the trend of all often being via electronic platforms and merchants from other countries. Now the organization like the European Consumer Center (ECC) Bulgaria, which is part of the network covering the EU countries, Iceland, Norway and the United Kingdom, comes to “help”.
“In Bulgaria, we act according to the Commission for Consumer Protection and the cases we resolve are cross-border, so that if the consumer in our country has problems with a merchant within these countries,” Sonia Spasova, director of the EPC, said in an interview with BTA.
About 10 percent of all cases when users from armed countries file a complaint through the partner centers against Bulgarian merchants.
Sonia Spasova commented that on the basis of the fact that the complaints in the EPC are increasing, many more people shop online in recent years. The pandemic and the organizers that were associated with it, especially at the beginning, have predisposed the purchases from the electronic platforms, but this trend persists over time.
“Now a variety of things are being purchased – whereas before it was clothes, shoes, appliances, now both goods and services are being ordered, for example educational courses, maps and fitness programs, personal development consultations and the like” , Sonia Spasova pointed out.
The observed EPC shows that the increased assortment of goods and services is the main change recently. They shop people of different ages, if they are not just young, because they can get to a merchant that they would otherwise not be able to find. At the same time, consumers are trying to get more information in advance.
“In recent months, a lot of people have been calling or writing to us asking for information in advance so they can be prepared if there is a problem,” she said.
What should consumers be aware of when shopping online?
First of all – who is the merchant, to whom they give their money and trust to order a given product. This can easily be checked in various free search engines, see when this site or e-shop was created, if there are any negative reviews and decide whether to use it. There should be information about the company, its headquarters, address. Special attention should be shown when it comes to large equipment, we have had such signals over the years, said Sonia Spasova.
Secondly, a condition under which we buy a given commodity. When you order something online, we have the right to return it within 14 days of the delivery date. This applies in a very large number of cases, as exclusions are mainly related to hygiene reasons for underwear and swimwear. In addition, we cannot return food, beverages and perishables, flowers, as always mentioned by the merchant.
Merchandise must be unused, in good merchantable condition and with tags. “If we buy shoes, we should try them on at home to see if they’re comfortable, not walk out and then decide to return them. That’s not right – if we buy the same shoes in a brick-and-mortar store, the retailer never would allow us to go outside the site with them”, the director of EPC Bulgaria gave an example.
How to seek our rights as users?
It is always necessary to emphasize to the merchant first. In the vast majority of cases, he solves the problem and explains what needs to happen. If, after sending a letter, the trader does not act and is outside the EU, users can contact us. We conduct free voluntary negotiations with the assistance of our colleagues from the common centers. If the merchant is registered in Bulgaria, the authority is the Consumer Protection Commission, Sonia Spasova reported.
It is important to know that merchants ask for a reason to return the product not to refuse it, but rather to improve business practices, and the consumer is not required to provide an explanation.
“If you buy a product at a reduced price, it does not mean that your rights are reduced, you have the same rights to return, for a guarantee, as when you shop at a regular price,” said the director of EPC Bulgaria.
What do users complain about the most?
Wishes, contact transport services, are about a third and are always constant and a large part of all. But outside this sector it is related to online shopping, because the nature is like that, mainly for the problems with the return of the goods shown on EPC Bulgaria.
Sonia Spasova also gave a specific example: “The consumer buys sneakers from a Czech website, finds out that they are not comfortable and returns them the same day. The merchant receives, sends an email, issues a credit note and the lady starts waiting for BGN 140, which is the price of the sneakers. It passes. month, but the money does not go to her account, and she writes again to the merchant, who does not respond to her. Then, together with colleagues from the EPC in the Czech Republic, we managed to convince the merchant that he should return the money.” Other complaints are related to wrong or insufficient goods being delivered.
Can it be said that the EPC has the most work around “Black Friday”?
Yes, but if the merchants were not correct, we expect a “boom” after a month or two, when consumers received the goods, turned to the merchant, he did not cooperate with them, and it is already assumed that they will turn to us. But we all hope that consumers, shopping sensibly, wouldn’t have problems, she said.
Are the discounts real or is there just pre-holiday euphoria letting our guard down?
It is good to make a comparison with the price of the good or service on other sites, as well as a comparison with the price a few days or weeks before at the same merchant. It is good to check the absolute price in BGN or EUR, not the percentage reduction. There are also not quite real discounts, but it’s a matter of good judgment on the part of consumers, everything is profitable for them, says the expert.
In which cases can EPC Bulgaria not help?
Unfortunately, there are such cases when the merchant is insufficiently correct or in other words a fraud, does not exist and we cannot get to him. In such cases, we refer the user to the police. There are cases when traders exist, but either they are not correct enough, or they think that consumers are not correct enough, said Sonia Spasova.
low user center conducts negotiations and has no investigative powers, but the network it is part of has existed since 2005, that is 17 years. It is very popular in other countries and it is a matter of image for traders not to cooperate, because that is how they keep their image good in front of consumers and in front of us, she pointed out.
The most important thing, however, is that your user must be responsible enough for himself and take the time to check and get information, because this provides him with a comfortable and safe shopping experience, advises EPC Bulgaria.