As far as shopping on sale is concerned, for example, Black Friday, clients should be careful and vigilant not to lose their money – advises the President of Competition and Consumer Protection Office (OCCP) Tomasz Chróstny. He reminds companies that practices which harm consumers’ interests are punishable.
The President of the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection (OCCP) was interviewed on the eve of upcoming sales, such as Black Friday by Money. pl on Friday.
‘We have to be careful what kind of product we buy and from which trader so that we don’t end up with an unreliable businessman or a fraudster who is trying to extort money from us,’ said Chróstny.
As he said, first and foremost, what must be considered is to make purchases ‘extremely sensible’. ‘Let’s buy verified products, let’s look for outside opinions on products and the entrepreneur. We remember our consumer rights,’ he explained.
Chróstny reported that the OCCP monitors prices in case one of the entrepreneurs would decide to engage in practices aimed at deceiving consumers. The office will also launch an appropriate information campaign to make consumers aware of their rights and the withdrawal from distance contracts.
As he says, entrepreneurs use different tricks. ‘We see ads – 70 per cent off. This very often applies only to a selected product group. Sometimes we meet with practices such that despite the choice of e. g. the transaction is cancelled if somewhere the trader finds out that it is unfavourable for him,’ he said. As he added, clients should report such practices to the OCCP.
‘For practices infringing the collective interests of consumers, the sanctions are up to 10% of the annual turnover for each practice. The sales day of November 27th, so-called ‘Black Friday’, opens the pre-Christmas shopping period.