90 % Crooks??? (Consumer protection!)

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KoratCat
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90 % Crooks??? (Consumer protection!)

Ungelesener Beitragvon KoratCat » Do Jul 19, 2007 10:58 am

CONSUMER PROTECTION / SURVEY FINDING

90% of businesses exploiting customers

SUNTHORN PONGPAO

Ayutthaya _ Nine out of 10 businesses take advantage of consumers, with housing estates, gold shops and used-car dealerships topping the complaints list, a survey by the Office of the Consumer Protection Board has found. OCPB deputy secretary-general Niroth Charoenprakob said that in most cases the quality of products was exaggerated in advertisements.

Many complaints were directed at housing estate projects. Developers failed to keep promises made in advertisements or agreements, especially regarding the use of construction materials and building quality.

Mr Niroth was speaking at an OCPB mobile meeting on consumer rights in Ayutthaya yesterday.

Many buyers could not transfer ownership of the houses because the developers had mortgaged the land or were not the real owners.

Other buyers made the down payment and then could not get a loan from a creditor because the developer was in financial trouble.

Mr Niroth said most complaints against gold shops involved buyers being short-changed on the gold content or weight of the items they bought.

Consumers also complained of problems with vendors of motorcycles and used cars who overstated the quality of the vehicle and often changed the specifications without telling the buyer.

However, cheated consumers rarely came forward to safeguard their rights, especially in the provinces.

This may be due to a lack of knowledge of consumer rights, or fear of bureaucratic red tape or a counter-lawsuit.

He urged troubled consumers to contact the office via the 1166 complaints hotline. Each province also had a consumer protection sub-panel headed by the governor which had the power to investigate and take unscrupulous operators to court.

Mr Niroth said his office most recently passed on complaints about Sampanh Insurance, which was ordered to suspend operations on July 18 because of a shortage of cash, to the Insurance Department which oversees the industry.

Car owners with Sampanh insurance policies had complained that repair shops refused to release their vehicles after the work was finished because the company failed to pay.

He noted, however, that his office had received fewer complaints about sanghatan offering packages, compared to prior years. Merit-makers' awareness and stringent controls imposed by the office had discouraged shops from putting expired or sub-standard goods in the instant alms packages.

Bangkok Post July 19, 2007
Es gibt nichts Gutes, ausser man tut es! Erich Kästner, 1899 - 1974

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Re: 90 % Crooks??? (Consumer protection!)

Ungelesener Beitragvon KoratCat » Sa Aug 04, 2007 9:57 pm

TRADE / CONSUMER PROTECTION

Used car dealers to face new regulations

ANJIRA ASSAVANONDA

The Consumer Protection Board will start regulating the sale of used cars from Sept 8 by having the dealers stick labels telling the history of the vehicle for sale. The measure is an attempt to protect consumers following countless complaints from buyers with the agency that they had encountered crooked car dealers when purchasing used cars.

''Complaints on used car sales cheats are the third highest in number after those related to second-hand motorcycle purchases and housing problems. That's why we need to take certain action on it,'' Rasamee Vistavet, the board's secretary-general told a gathering of used car dealers at a seminar yesterday.

The complaints filed with the board involved deception in various forms, such as hiding the defects of a vehicle, lying about the year in which it was manufactured, forged registration papers, and problems involving transfer of ownership.

To better protect consumers, the board on April 26 issued an announcement regulating used cars as label-controlled products. The announcement will take effect on Sept 8, 120 days after being published in the Royal Gazette.

Under the new rule, the label must contain 21 details, including the vehicle registration date, registration number, chassis number, engine number, vehicle brand, engine brand, colour, type of vehicle, fuel type, the latest ownership, product classification (e.g. used car), manufacturer, distributor, location of manufacturer or distributor, engine size, directions for use, warning, manufacturing date, and price.

The labels must be placed on the front windshields of the vehicles on sale, with the font size not smaller than 1 cm.

According to Ms Rasamee, those violating the rules, such as dealers who intentionally give false information in the label, will be subject to a fine of up to 50,000 baht, or a maximum of six-month jail.

The regulation will be simultaneously implemented along with another new announcement on receipt-control for used car sales. This announcement requires dealers to provide their customers a receipt carrying all the important details of the label.

Together with the receipt, the dealers must hand over the vehicle registration book with complete details on the car history, including modification records.

The receipt-control announcement is expected to be endorsed very soon.

Nirote Charoenprakob, the board's deputy secretary-general, said the new regulations should give buyers better protection when they are about to make a purchase of a used car.

Some of the dealers attending the seminar argued that the regulations seemed to protect only the consumers while ignoring the plight of used car tents, some of which were also cheated by people from whom they purchased the used cars.

''Often we too are cheated and when that happens I have no idea who we must turn to for help,'' said the dealer.

Pattanadej Arsa-sapakit, an automobile expert, said the newly enforced regulations will not harm the dealers as long as they run their businesses with sincerity and honesty.

He understood there would be some inconveniences at the beginning, but after the dust has settled, they should help improve the credibility of dealers as well, on top of promoting better trade.

Bangkok Post Aug. 4, 2007
Es gibt nichts Gutes, ausser man tut es! Erich Kästner, 1899 - 1974


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