THE RIGHTS of consumers have always taken a back seat in this country and, as a consequence, we have been treated to the ravages of "Rip-off Ireland", where good value is a concept in the mind of the seller.
The National Consumer Agency (NCA) has now become involved, however, and has issued draft guidelines to the retail sector that are designed to counteract misleading, unfair and aggressive commercial practices. It is not before time. For although the NCA was established last year, the protections it advocates were introduced by the European Union in 2005.
The sooner the rights of consumers are fully vindicated the better. Anecdotal evidence would suggest that prices are being kept artificially high in many sectors of the economy because of collusion by vested interests. And consumers are being misled and pressurised into making purchases that are not good value. This initiative by the NCA sets out what it regards as acceptable behaviour in the promotion and sale of goods and it invites submissions from retailers. If the guidelines are adopted and enforced they should provide better value for consumers.
According to the EU directive, all legitimate consumer contracts are premised on equality between consumer and trader. In order to ensure that equality, specific information should be supplied to the consumer concerning the original price of the item and any sale or reduced price. In the case of the original price stated, the goods must have been on sale for 28 days during the previous three months in order to protect consumers against misleading advertising. Producers should not peg recommended retail prices artificially high in order to allow retailers advertise contrived discounts. Reduced prices should include VAT and other taxes. And special product lines brought in to supplement sales stock should not be advertised as "sale items".
These tricks of the trade and other measures that disguise real value are commonly used by retailers in promotional advertising. But they are not acceptable to the NCA. The consumer agency is concerned about special promotional advertising and pricing involving 24-hour bargains or "last few" items and designed to encourage compulsive purchasing. The sale of extended guarantees on white goods, that may cost 50 per cent of the item purchased, is regarded as aggressive commercial practice. Best practice should see an end to a time limit on the use of gift vouchers; it calls for greater clarity regarding loyalty card discounts and says that consumers should be given cash, rather than a credit note or voucher, when a faulty product is returned. These measures are long overdue.