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The National Organization of Consumers of Serbia, NOPS, warned yesterday that the number of complaints from consumers who, they claim, are victims of merchants offering various products with health effects has increased again. These products, such as blankets, massagers, but also cleaning devices, which well-trained merchants used to offer in presentations, are now sold by calling customers on the phone and thus presenting them with an offer that is “not refused.” Usually it is about selling the merchandise in several installments, with compulsory gifts, and when they decide to buy it, the merchandise is delivered promptly to your home.
These often turn out to be cheap Chinese products priced above the market price, but the buyers are unable to terminate the contract or contact the sellers. Clearly, these are well-coordinated traders who tend to choose older people in this way. When they realize that they have been deceived, they often hesitate to admit even to their families that they are the victims of a deceit. Zoran Nikolić, president of NOPS in Kragujevac, says that the number of objections has increased and that merchants now take advantage of this situation where the elderly do not usually go shopping, so they can more easily convince them and sell them various items.
– Once again we are drawing attention, especially to the elderly, to the increasingly present sale of various blankets, massagers and similar products that trained vendors offer them all over Serbia. It is very important for them to know that in this type of trade there is a legal period of 14 days to withdraw without any consequence. We understand that older people like the extra attention that vendors give them in the field, but that can cost them dearly – says Nikolić adding that it is not a shame to admit we were wrong. Even that is not the only option, because in such situations you can always turn to our lawyers who work within the Consumer Advice Center.
That is, the citizens who complained to that organization, only after testing the product, they realized that the product does not have the listed characteristics and all those who tried to contact the merchant immediately and return the ordered products, were unsuccessful .
As they say in the aforementioned organization, when inspecting the documentation submitted by consumers, they notice important irregularities, mainly the fact that during the purchase they were not provided with a withdrawal form from the contract to which the consumer is entitled by law. In accordance with current regulations, by completing the indicated form, the buyer has the right to cancel the purchase within 14 days of the purchase, without indicating the reasons. On the other hand, the products are delivered without instructions for use, which also indicates fraud, they say in NOPS.
It is important to know that in the event that merchants selling goods outside the business premises do not provide this form to customers, consumers have the right to terminate the purchase contract within one year.
The most important thing is to read each item in detail when signing the contract, as it happens that the merchant indicates in the contract that the withdrawal contract was delivered to the buyer, although this is not the case, and the consumer who signs said contract denies his right to waive this purchase. from one year on, if you are not satisfied.
As indicated on the website of the Ministry of Commerce, sales outside the commercial premises mean situations where the merchant (for example, a commercial passenger) and the consumer conclude the contract of sale outside the merchant’s commercial premises. Most of the time it is about sales in promotions (for example, in restaurants), personal offers when you visit a consumer at home or at their workplace.
– With this type of purchase, the consumer has the right to withdraw within 14 days from the day he signed the purchase order or contract. The purchase order must contain a withdrawal form from the contract, and before concluding the contract, the merchant is obliged to inform the consumer about the right to withdraw from the purchase. In this case, the consumer returns the merchandise and the merchant returns the money, without the possibility of requesting any additional cost reimbursement, such as, for example, a certain percentage of the price he paid, indicates the corresponding ministry.
Risky payment through an administrative ban
As the Consumer drafting has written on several occasions, more and more citizens are taking advantage of the possibility of paying through administrative bans on salaries or pensions in this type of transaction. Although this is an attractive payment method, you have to be careful, because in practice it happens that companies that do business in this way subvert various contracts, which it is impossible to renounce later. One of our readers, whom we wrote about earlier, bought a memory foam mat at the price of 614 euros, paid the participation fee, signed the purchase order and when a month later he realized that he had made an unreasonably expensive purchase and tried to give up. , he encountered a misunderstanding from the merchant. The response indicated that this company had already contacted the Republic’s Pension and Disability Insurance Fund the day after the presentation, and that the agreed fees (in the presentation) would be remitted from its account to the account of this company. No one even mentioned the form to give up the purchase, and the merchant threatened that if she changed her mind, she would have to pay the seller 25 percent of the order value.
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