– GNBS advises Christmas shoppers

REFUSING to accept a receipt after a purchase in a bid to evade the Value Added Tax (VAT) could have daunting consequences for shoppers, the Guyana National Bureau of Standards (GNBS) has warned.

Public Relations Officer Lloyd David is advising patrons not to refuse receipts, because when an item becomes defective, the supplier may not remember the consumer, and with no receipt, the consumer would not have a case

During the busy shopping period for the Christmas holidays, shoppers, he said, must be very cautious.

Without a receipt, David noted that it would not be surprising if a supplier or proprietor does not accept the word of a shopper that he or she purchased a particular item on a particular date.

For this very reason, he said “receipts are very important” and must be collected.

The GNBS has been seeking to sensitise shoppers about the need to be vigilant while shopping during the Christmas season. And in this regard, David has been sharing useful tips via radio stations and the daily newspapers.

According to David, there are many things that consumers need to be vigilant about, including hire purchase.

He noted that while shoppers may be forced into a hire-purchase contract because of their inability to pay cash, there is still a great need to take precautions.

“You need to be cautious when you are actually going through and signing all of those pieces of paper [hire purchase contract],” said David, pointing out that not only can contracts be wordy, but they can also include some fine print, to which shoppers may not be inclined to pay attention.

As such, he urged that shoppers “Read the fine print! You need to be careful with that [the fine print] to know what it means to you… what is it going to do for you and so forth… go through the entire document before you sign; read the fine print once you can.”

He underscored that even if shoppers lack the capacity or are unable to read the contract for some reason, they should seek to have someone explain the various sections of the contract before proceeding to affix their signatures.

EXAMINE THOROUGHLY
Added to this, he stressed the need for shoppers to thoroughly examine the item they will actually receive. This is important, David said, since the item being purchased may be delivered in a few days and is likely to come from a warehouse.

“So you need to don’t just put that item in the corner and say [you will deal with it] when you are finished cleaning up the house. Have them check it when the delivery guys drop it. [If possible] let them install and prove that it is working before they go away. So don’t just tuck it in the box and wait until you are ready for it,” David urged.

But there are even more things shoppers should be vigilant about. These, according to David, include paying attention to the warranty on items being purchased.

He said when a shopper opts to purchase electrical appliances and big-ticket items that are costly, such as generators, what they do not know sometimes is that the manufacturer usually passes on a warranty to the business.

As such, he advised that when making such purchases, shoppers are well within their rights to ask for their warranty.

“Find out how much warranty you have….Whether it is one year, two years or three years. You need to find out about your warranty…” David asserted, as he explained that a warranty should be a written document.

“Sometimes it is on the receipt and some cover repairs, replacement, refunds, and how long the warranty should be,” said David, as he pointed out that the Consumers Affairs Legislation requires suppliers offer a minimum of six months warranty.

However, some manufactures, he noted, have been known to give more than six months warranty.

“Some importers, what they do, [because] they know that they have a two-year warranty on the item, they make you decide if you want to accept one or two [years] warranty. Some take it a bit up and say you know what, ‘we can give you a four or five years warranty,’ but you are going to pay for that additional warranty… and that is the new practice,” David related.

He, however, cautioned that “it is up to you to say ‘no, I don’t want that warranty because it is going to add to my cost or my overhead’ or you can say ‘you know what, just in case this item goes bad, I need to know that I am protected.’”