There are laws, but no protection yet

(Baonghean) -The Law on Consumer Protection has been in effect since July 1, 2011, and has been in effect for nearly 2 years now, but has yet to create a positive effect in real life. On the business side, violations have not decreased, and some businesses have even deliberately ignored consumer complaints...

Consumers' rights are being violated in a widespread way. Every day, consumers have to face counterfeit goods, incorrect measurements, cheating customers, and pushing up prices... Items from popular to high-end, even essential items in daily life such as vegetables, fruits, fish sauce, chili sauce... that violate food safety regulations are still openly sold. Mr. Pham Van Tuan (teacher at Nghe An Pedagogical College) after seeing the classified advertisement on a flyer delivered to his house, with a quite attractive promotional price at an electronics supermarket on Le Loi Street (Vinh City), went to the store to buy a DVD player. After buying and using it for 5 days, the player was broken, and many times while watching, the player automatically turned off. He brought it to the store to ask for a replacement, but the store owner "calmly" said that the regulation for these items was posted "no exchange or return after purchase". Because he did not have the correct invoice, documents, or warranty, Mr. Tuan had to accept it... As for Ms. Nguyen Thi Nhung (in Mau Don hamlet, Hung Loc commune, Vinh city), she bought goods with invoices and warranty papers within the valid period but still had to accept the loss; she said: "More than half a year ago, I bought a water purifier at a relatively large electronics dealer, with a 2-year warranty. Less than a month later, the machine broke down. I had to go back and forth with great difficulty to get my machine accepted for warranty. But then it broke down again."

Choose products at BigC supermarket.

Spending real money to buy fake goods, counterfeit goods, even toxic food; using maintenance and repair services, losing real goods, or having fake goods exchanged, to have an excuse to extort money; buying an apartment, the money is delivered on schedule but the house is delayed... There are many stories of consumer rights violations that happen every day, but it is worth mentioning that most of the time everything goes back to the way it was. Consumer rights violations occur in a "variety" way, but the most common reason is that consumers, when faced with cases of violations of their rights, often do not speak up or stop using those goods and services instead of reporting them to the authorities. In fact, consumers do not fully understand the law to protect themselves, or do not know about it!

The Nghe An Association for the Protection of Consumer Rights was established in 2007, managed by the Department of Industry and Trade, but due to lack of funding, its activities were ineffective. In 2010, the Association sought funding from the Steering Committee for the Nghe An Small and Medium Enterprise Support Program (granted for 5 years) to organize the dissemination of laws on the protection of consumer rights through the integration of dissemination campaigns of State legal documents in the field of standards, measurement of product quality, etc. The purpose is to protect the legitimate rights and interests of consumers when they are violated; ensure the reputation of genuine manufacturers, businesses, and services; and ensure fairness for consumers when purchasing goods or using services, they must receive value corresponding to the money they spend.

Through the practice of handling complaints at the Association, it can be seen that, comparing the implementation of the Law on Protection of Consumer Rights, many consumers are not aware of the 8 basic rights and their responsibilities and obligations. Among them is the responsibility to inform the authorities and social organizations about unsafe products and services that cause damage to other consumers. According to regulations, when a consumer buys a defective product, the manufacturer is obliged to exchange it for a new product of the same type or compensate for the value of the product. In the case that a consumer uses a poor quality product that results in material damage, if the specific costs and damages can be proven, the consumer can request the manufacturer to compensate for these additional costs and damages. In case of health damage due to the use of products or services, consumers also have the right to claim compensation for medical expenses... Thus, the rights of consumers are quite clear, and everyone needs to know that filing a complaint is not only an act to protect their own rights but also contributes to protecting other consumers...

However, the problem is that the relevant authorities must really get involved, promote and effectively implement the Law on Consumer Rights Protection, and soon bring the Law into life.

The Law on Consumer Protection stipulates 8 basic rights of consumers: Right to safety; Right to information; Right to choose goods and services; Right to be listened to; Right to participate in developing and implementing policies and laws on consumer protection; Right to compensation; Right to complaints; Right to advice and support on consumer knowledge. In addition, consumers must have the obligation to inform competent authorities and social organizations when discovering products and services circulating on the market that are not safe, causing damage to the rights and legitimate interests of consumers; check goods, choose to consume, and services with clear origin, do not harm the environment, and do not go against good customs.

Article and photos: Ngoc Anh