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