AS part of consumer education, we will be carrying more articles on Consumer Rights and warnings against those who supply goods and services in a dishonest, careless and sub-standard way.  This week we will touch on two such topics:

Telecommunications
(i) By a ruling of the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) several years ago, the telephone has to make 8 rings at least before voicemail is activated.  As soon as voicemail is activated, the caller is charged for a call.  But both telephone companies have programmed their systems that voicemail comes on immediately or long before 8 rings and the consumer is unfairly and unlawfully charged for a call.  In this way, the companies are illegally exploiting the consumers at millions of dollars per month.  We have brought this consumer exploitation to the PUC’s notice and they will be taking corrective action.

(ii) Replacement of telephone instrument:  GTT from the time they were given a Contract and Licence to operate the landline service in Guyana, replaced faulty instruments as of course without any charge to the subscriber.  Recently, in breach of their contract, they illegally began to extract payment from subscribers.  The PUC by Order #2/2017 reiterated the position that GTT has to replace faulty instruments without charge to subscribers.  Telephone subscribers must, therefore, reject any attempt by GTT to charge them for replacement of telephone instruments.

(iii) Delay in repairs – Compensatory credit by GTT.  In recent years, unlike in their earlier years, GTT has taken to neglecting repairs to landline telephones.  Subscribers have often complained that their telephones have been out-of-order for a year and more.  When the Company was first established here, telephones were repaired within the regulatory 3 days.  Consumers are of opinion that the poor repair record could be attributed to poor management and also the attempt to force consumers to use the far more expensive cell phones.  The PUC, Consumers and the Government have tried without success to have GTT repair telephones in a reasonable time.  Now, by PUC Order #2/2017 GTT will have to pay the subscribers a compensatory credit for every day they have failed to repair their telephones.  This took effect from 1st August.  Subscribers must start asking for their compensation via PUC.

(iv)International Calls.  By PUC Order #2/2017 international calls were slightly reduced in cost.  The reduction was what GTT asked for since the PUC and the other major stakeholder, the Consumers, had always wished GTT would make its rates competitive with OTT providers like Internet cafes.

Consumer durables and warranties
With the advent of the free market, consumer durables such as washing machines, refrigerators, gas stoves, toasters, microwaves and such other consumer durables came to be imported from various parts of the world and not from the traditional exporters in Europe and North America who supplied brand-name products of high standard.  East Asia was the chief import market and the attraction for local importers was the cheaper prices.  Quality and durability of the products imported were not a consideration.

India, where Western standards are accepted as the norm and where many of the well-known Western companies operate and whose growth resemble China’s, does not concentrate on the export trade as East Asia does.  Instead, the Indians concentrate on satisfying their own huge market.  Thus Indian consumer durables are rarely imported.
In Guyana, a few big stores still stock Western brand-name products but most of the smaller and middle-sized stores sell East Asian imports.

East Asian consumer durables, with some justification, are regarded as inferior to Western-made products and though they are sold at cheaper prices, in the final analysis, they do not provide value for money.
But ordinary folk are attracted by the lower prices and are not acutely conscious that they are buying an inferior product which may be completely useless in a short time or may be plagued with repair woes.

The sellers of such sub-standard durables give warranties for one month so as to escape the Law which prescribes that if there is no warranty, then a six-month warranty takes effect.  And for the month, they have no intention of honouring the warranty since they have no repair shop or do they engage technical persons to repair defective machines they sell or do they import spare parts.

As consumer advocates, our advice would be that consumers should try to buy the better product though it may require more immediate financial sacrifice.  They will have a longer warranty which could be honoured since there would be repair help available as well as spare parts.  There would also be not much delay before repairs are effectuated.  We would, therefore, reiterate that consumers should avoid buying at a cheap price and risking losing what they have paid for the item.

A number of the big stores offer hire-purchase facilities.  Hire-purchase contracts as they are in Guyana at the moment are largely in favour of the companies and not the purchaser.  We would advise purchasers to avoid hire-purchase, even if they have to make some sacrifice.