Consumer Protection- Here we go again

Written by admin on April 4th, 2011

The Consumer Protection Act was passed in the year 1986. This act proposes many rules to protect consumers. However, are all these rules followed? Do you believe the companies know about any of these rules? We can only guess. Consumer products are the products and services which are bought or rented for personal or household use. So, one should keep one’s own interest in mind. Prevention is always better than cure. So when you want to purchase anything keep few pointers in mind and then move forward. The Consumer Protection Act can be enforced only after realizing you have been cheated, instead you can be smart and do research about the product you are interested in before making the purchase, and it will save you a lot of confusion and mishaps in the future. We have no demand for information. We have abundant readily available. There are many Non Governmental Organization from whom you can request for help when you have any consumer related problem.

Before making any purchase make sure that the particular product meets all your requirements. Do not rely on the company’s product report and advertisements as they only talk about their plus points and diminish their flaws. These companies spend a huge amount of money to market their product, so they definitely make their product look good in comparison to others. There are also many consumer protection websites and other product websites, which have real reviews from people who have already experienced that particular product. All products have pros and cons, so it is up to you to decide which product suits your needs best.

Always visit various stores to find out about how that particular product sells and compare the prices of the product. Get advice from your friends or relatives because they are people who you know and rely on. Never compensate price for quality. Quality products last longer. Check for the warranty period and also the terms and condition of the warranty. Maintenance is the most important aspect for any product. Scheduled maintenance of products is necessary. Warranty does not cover the expenses for the product defaults due to breakage or carelessness of user and always make sure that the particular company has customer care support where your problems are heard and remedial efforts are taken immediately.

Always check for the manufactory date of any consumable product. There have been reports of various leading super markets selling expired goods. When you know such malpractice happen, immediately contact the higher officials as expired products might even lead to serious illness. If no action is taken over such places, avoid shopping there and prevent your family and neighbours from shopping there too. People need to take control as being helpless is not going to solve the issues at hand.
If you want to purchase any cars or consumer electronics, check whether it had any previous recalls or failure models in that particular brand and also make sure if the product were rectified properly. There are many products in the market which have been considered failure models. Consumers are cheated into buying them. These products do not last for long and also give a lot of maintenance problems. These kinds of problems arise when you buy a mobile phone where you will not be able to test the phones until the seal of the box is opened. My friend was once scammed where there was a used mobile phone in a sealed box and this happened in one of the reputed store. The salesman refused to open the box before the full amount was paid for the particular product. Never fall for the ‘free gift scam’ you either over pay for the product (which would probably include the price of your gift) or the free gift is of really bad quality. So always judge a product only by its quality and the company’s reputation.

Now there are many consumer protection websites where they offer immediate services. The need for consumer protections increases everyday as scammers get smarter every day. So be smart and keep yourself informed and also share your views, so others can benefit by it.

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