IN any one week, consumer advocates have to respond to a kaleidoscope of consumer problems, many very different from each other. In this offering, we shall take a look at four random such issues.
In the first, we will review charges made by commercial banks. For the services they provide, commercial banks make a charge, and such charges, combined with the interest they earn by lending depositors’ funds, make up the bulk of their income. Very often, the charges they make vary from bank to bank, and, in some cases, they turn out to be exploitative. The following example occurred very recently:
The holder of a Republic Bank chequing account at a local bank issued a cheque payment of (say) $10,000 to a recipient who went in person the next day to encash the cheque. The teller informed the recipient that he would have to pay a charge of $1,500 before she could pay him. He duly paid the $1,500, but was given no receipt. The recipient returned to the payer and informed him that he did not, in effect, receive the $10,000 due to him, but only $8,500. The payer reimbursed the recipient.

The payer (Account Holder) felt that there was some mistake or misunderstanding since, within his experience in banking, he had never experienced such a surrealist happening, and so he took the matter to the senior-most levels of the bank, who affirmed that the teller was correct, and that the bank had “reviewed the cost and risk or providing such a service” before imposing the charge.

The payer analysed the claim that the bank had incurred special costs and risk in honouring their own customer’s valid cheque, but could find no special costs or risk. On the contrary, the payer (Account Holder) holds a chequing account on which the bank pays no interest, as it would do for Savings Accounts, and he would have bought the cheque from the bank. The bank would, therefore, have received an upfront payment for the service from the payer, by the bank receiving the interest on the Chequing Account, and the payment for the bank cheque. Furthermore, the payer was embarrassed by the bank’s failure to pay the face value of his cheque.
The position of the bank in making this particular charge is exploitative, and this can be seen when compared with other banks, which make no such charge, and do not consider honouring their Account Holder’s cheque a cost or a risk.
Several consumers have asked us to publish the comparative charges imposed by the local banks for services, and we hope to do this in due course. In the meantime, the other banks offer a better buy, in the case mentioned above.

BREADS: Wheaten bread is a staple food in Guyana, and the population eats it every day. The bakeries offer whole wheat and white flour bread. Whole wheat is now regarded as healthier and more nutritious than white flour. Similarly, whole wheat rotis are preferable to white flour ones.
In making bread, all local bakeries mix sugar in the dough, and the more discriminating consumers prefer their breads to have less sugar. The bigger bakeries, such as Bakewell and BanksDIH, use moderate sugar, though many consumers feel they could use even less. Working-class and country folk tend to buy their bread from the smaller bakeries, which tend to use far more sugar in their dough, because their customers like the sweet taste, being oblivious that they are intaking sugar. These sugary breads are a danger to diabetics, especially as they do not realise where they are getting their sugar from. Consumers are enjoined to avoid breads that are sweet, and sugary pastries.

CONSUMER DURABLES: In addition to the recognised stores, there are a plethora of smaller shops, many of them owned by East Asians selling such things as washing machines, cookers, clothes irons, toasters, fans, refrigerators, fans, blenders and so on. The prices at these shops are cheaper than the established stores, but the usual consumer is unaware of two pitfalls. The first is that such equipment may be reconditioned or second hand, and the second is that the smaller shops give warranties from one month to three months. And if the equipment becomes dysfunctional, they do not have any technicians or spare parts. Many such purchases turn out to be useless in a short time, causing loss to purchasers. We think it is safer and, in the long-run, more economical to purchase consumer durables from the recognised stores, since they give warranties for a year and over, have technicians and spare parts, and sell only new goods.

EXPIRY DATES: All drugs and foodstuffs in the shops must carry an expiry date after which it is unsafe to purchase the item. If the item does not carry an expiry date, do not purchase it. Also, do not purchase an item with a near-expiry date, since if the purchaser delays using it, it will expire on his hands. Expired drugs could be ineffective after the expiry date, or could become poisonous or toxic. Similarly, foodstuffs, especially canned foods, become toxic after the expiry date. When buying foodstuffs and drugs, always ascertain the expiry dates.