World Consumer Rights Day 2013

Teri Ann Renee Paisley, Gleaner Online Writer

March 15, 2013 was celebrated in 250 countries as World Consumer Rights Day.

The theme for this year was, Consumer Justice Now. I don’t remember paying less for anything I bought that day because that would have been my kind of ‘justice’. This is just wishful thinking as the day had nothing to do with giving consumers discounts, instead it basically celebrated the rights consumers expect to enjoy as they purchase goods and services.

I thought about what rights consumers have such as the right to get information, the right to redress and the right to pay whatever is charged by the retailer. That last ‘right’ is not a legitimate part of what constitutes consumer rights of course but it sure seems to describe what is now being experienced by most consumers.

Recently, I had an in depth conversation with a small business operator in the Portmore area. I asked him how his business was going to absorb the increases that are coming on stream. His response was that he was going to increase prices at his establishment. I expressed concern that this would drive away his customers but he insisted that they would simply dip deeper in their pockets and pay whatever he charged.

I was utterly amazed at how certain he was that regardless of how much he charged, he would retain his customer base. His argument was that Jamaicans are resilient and they would know how to manipulate their budget to meet any new challenges. While I do agree that Jamaicans know how to survive on less, I wondered if there could not be some attempt to ease their burden on the part of the retailers.

I am aware that in a business a profit must be made but to do so at the expense of alienating your client can only spell disaster for the economy.

So in light of this I have a few suggestions. I think retailers could encourage customers with special weeks of ‘old price’ on selected items. They could also form a loyalty points system that some supermarkets already use so that when you have accumulated a certain number of points you can redeem it in store credit. This would also be an incentive for customers to shop at the store on a regular basis.

Well, if everyone passes the buck to the consumer I predict that there will be a reduction of shopping as I already see some plazas experiencing less traffic as people stay away from spending unnecessarily.
In the interim I certainly encourage consumers to shop around for the best price.

Happy World Consumer Rights Day!

Tags: consumer, customers, products, protect, safety