Most times I buy a product, one caption I see on the receipt which keeps me wondering is the caption that says "goods bought in good condition cannot be returned". There are times you buy a product, pay for it, and on getting home, you realize that you don't really need it, or it does not properly fit (for clothings) or you have exceeded your budget plans/limits. Consequently, you wish to return the goods, but when you look at the receipt, and find the same caption, you realize you are stuck and have no other option than to keep the goods.
Although this is painful, it is more painful to see none Nigerians, doing the same thing in nigeria which is not applicable in their own countries. One of these shops I have observed is 'park your motor and buy' :-) which is a very popular shop in different cities in Nigeria. It is quite sad to see what most Nigerians are made to go through...consumers without much options.
Before writing this article, I browsed the Nigeria 'Consumer Protection Council's' website
and was quite impressed about the work they are doing, moreso, the discovery that they not only operate under the Consumer Protection Council Act No. 66 of 1992 that provides for the holistic protection of the consumer, they also work in line with the United Nations Guidelines for Consumer Protection of 1985. One of their functions which I found interesting is "ensuring that consumers’ interest receive due consideration at appropriate fora and providing redress to obnoxious practices or the unscrupulous exploitation of consumers by companies, firms, trade associations or individuals". Having gained more understanding of the role of the consumer protection council, interestingly, I think one of the consumers' interest that indeed needs a redress is this specific caption on almost every seller/marketer's receipt. A consumer with candid reasons should have rights to say 'yes' or 'no' to purchased products. I hope the Consumer Protection Council gets to read this and do something about these practices!
This is very interesting. I really hope the council will be more proactive in protecting the interest of the consumers in Nigeria!
ReplyDeleteSuch a shame that this is happening! I hope that the CPC will work with consumers to pick up some of these anomalies and fix them.
ReplyDeleteThanks for reading and for your contributions. I do hope that some how the consumer protection council will look into this and if not yet aware of this issue, will become aware and deal with it.
ReplyDeleteThanks Chinwe for writing about this. I was in Uganda last month and experienced same thing. I bought some goods paid at the counter & immediately counted the money I had remaining in my purse with some difficulty because its a different currency with different value. I realised that what I had on me though in thousands does not amount to much. I immediately requested from the lady at the counter if I could return some of the goods just paid for and she told me I can't get my money back!
ReplyDeleteThanks Oge for stopping by. Its amazing to hear a similar case in Uganda from your experience. It is quite sad that people are made to keep what they would rather not have. With such experience, they will likely loose some of their customers with such an act.
ReplyDelete