ID :
44143
Wed, 02/04/2009 - 20:07
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://www.oananews.org//node/44143
The shortlink copeid
MORE CONSUMERS `FLEXING` THEIR MUSCLES
By Melati Mohd Ariff
KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 4 (Bernama) - News on unscrupulous traders resorting
to various tricks and gimmicks as well as gifts and other 'sweeteners' to fleece
unsuspecting consumers is nothing new.
Despite the media highlighting these scams and ploys, many consumers were
still fleeced into buying goods that they really did not need or that at
inflated price.
People should be willing to exercise their rights as consumers and there are
several channels that they could submit their complaints through.
Among these are the National Consumer Complaints Centre (NCCC), Consumer
Claims Tribunal and the Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Ministry.
MORE COMPLAINTS
According to the NCCC, there were 33 per cent more complaints, at 24,873 for
2007 as compared to 18,345 the year before.
The highest number of complaints for 2007 was against housing developers at
2,076 followed by direct selling (1,933), private high education institutions
(1,856), management organisations (1,739), telecommunications (1,721), inferior
quality products (1,519), cheap sale (1,410), public transport (1,254),
financial institutions (1,044) and hypermarkets (975).
On the higher number of complaints, NCCC Chief Executive Muhammad Sha'ani
Abdullah said this was due to the consumers' awareness over their rights over
the dissatisfaction in the price and quality of goods and services.
"Despite the lack of publicity on the NCCC, the majority of consumers
contacted the NCCC to air their complaints after getting information on the
Internet," he told Bernama here recently.
He said the trend is expected to pick up.
"Judging on the number of statistics for 2008 which is still being compiled
as of October for that year, the number of complaints is 20 per cent higher for
the same period in 2007," he said, adding that the report for 2008 is expected
to be ready by end of March.
He said the NCCC would also boost its efficiency to shorten the time taken
to act on each of the complaints to about five days.
For this, the information communication technology (ICT) for the NCCC
personnel handling the complaints would be improved apart from being provided
the exposure on the legal points relevant to the issues, he said.
OTHER COMPLAINTS
For the Consumer Complaints Tribunal, the highest number of complaints the
agency received for 2008 was that on the 'scratch-and-win' and SMS scams that
totalled 1,288 out of 7,440 cases.
Tribunal Chairman Rungit Singh, quoted in recent news reports, said most of
the companies involved in the scratch-and-win scam deployed strategies that
confused the public.
He said the companies set aside purportedly lucrative prizes to lure people
to participate in their scams.
Other complaints received by the tribunal were on purchases of cars (412),
handphones (336), tourism (327), time-sharing packages (241), workshops (223),
high education institutions (85) as well as haj and umrah packages (82).
E-COMPLAINT
For the Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Ministry, the 'e-Complain' has
been available on the ministry's website since June 14, 2004.
Via this mechanism, consumers could file their complaints direct to the
ministry and they could contact the ministry if there is no respond within three
days.
The ministry's Consumer Affairs Division Director Dr Mohd Mokhtar Tahar,
said as of Dec 16, 2008, there were 10,385 complaints as compared to 8,879 in
2007 and 6,350 the year before.
"The increase shows that consumers in the country are now more aware and
willing to exercise their rights. They also know where to file their
complaints," he said.
AWARENESS
The rise in consumer awareness is definitely going to have an impact among
the traders and producers of local goods.
As Muhammad Sha'ani put it, this has made the traders and producers be more
responsible when offering their products and services.
"They (traders) would be more responsible with what they offer in
advertisements and promotions," he said.
This means the traders would improve their attitude that translates into
better-quality goods and services.
According to Muhammad Sha'ani this could prompted the traders and producers
to set up their own channel to deal with complaints in relation to their goods
and services.
-- BERNAMA
KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 4 (Bernama) - News on unscrupulous traders resorting
to various tricks and gimmicks as well as gifts and other 'sweeteners' to fleece
unsuspecting consumers is nothing new.
Despite the media highlighting these scams and ploys, many consumers were
still fleeced into buying goods that they really did not need or that at
inflated price.
People should be willing to exercise their rights as consumers and there are
several channels that they could submit their complaints through.
Among these are the National Consumer Complaints Centre (NCCC), Consumer
Claims Tribunal and the Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Ministry.
MORE COMPLAINTS
According to the NCCC, there were 33 per cent more complaints, at 24,873 for
2007 as compared to 18,345 the year before.
The highest number of complaints for 2007 was against housing developers at
2,076 followed by direct selling (1,933), private high education institutions
(1,856), management organisations (1,739), telecommunications (1,721), inferior
quality products (1,519), cheap sale (1,410), public transport (1,254),
financial institutions (1,044) and hypermarkets (975).
On the higher number of complaints, NCCC Chief Executive Muhammad Sha'ani
Abdullah said this was due to the consumers' awareness over their rights over
the dissatisfaction in the price and quality of goods and services.
"Despite the lack of publicity on the NCCC, the majority of consumers
contacted the NCCC to air their complaints after getting information on the
Internet," he told Bernama here recently.
He said the trend is expected to pick up.
"Judging on the number of statistics for 2008 which is still being compiled
as of October for that year, the number of complaints is 20 per cent higher for
the same period in 2007," he said, adding that the report for 2008 is expected
to be ready by end of March.
He said the NCCC would also boost its efficiency to shorten the time taken
to act on each of the complaints to about five days.
For this, the information communication technology (ICT) for the NCCC
personnel handling the complaints would be improved apart from being provided
the exposure on the legal points relevant to the issues, he said.
OTHER COMPLAINTS
For the Consumer Complaints Tribunal, the highest number of complaints the
agency received for 2008 was that on the 'scratch-and-win' and SMS scams that
totalled 1,288 out of 7,440 cases.
Tribunal Chairman Rungit Singh, quoted in recent news reports, said most of
the companies involved in the scratch-and-win scam deployed strategies that
confused the public.
He said the companies set aside purportedly lucrative prizes to lure people
to participate in their scams.
Other complaints received by the tribunal were on purchases of cars (412),
handphones (336), tourism (327), time-sharing packages (241), workshops (223),
high education institutions (85) as well as haj and umrah packages (82).
E-COMPLAINT
For the Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Ministry, the 'e-Complain' has
been available on the ministry's website since June 14, 2004.
Via this mechanism, consumers could file their complaints direct to the
ministry and they could contact the ministry if there is no respond within three
days.
The ministry's Consumer Affairs Division Director Dr Mohd Mokhtar Tahar,
said as of Dec 16, 2008, there were 10,385 complaints as compared to 8,879 in
2007 and 6,350 the year before.
"The increase shows that consumers in the country are now more aware and
willing to exercise their rights. They also know where to file their
complaints," he said.
AWARENESS
The rise in consumer awareness is definitely going to have an impact among
the traders and producers of local goods.
As Muhammad Sha'ani put it, this has made the traders and producers be more
responsible when offering their products and services.
"They (traders) would be more responsible with what they offer in
advertisements and promotions," he said.
This means the traders would improve their attitude that translates into
better-quality goods and services.
According to Muhammad Sha'ani this could prompted the traders and producers
to set up their own channel to deal with complaints in relation to their goods
and services.
-- BERNAMA
