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Consumer's Telegramm European Edition
If you wish to be informed monthly about European consumer news, just subscribe our free newsletter.Consumer's Telegram October 2005
Insert of n. 63 - Editorial office: Centro Europeo Consumatori (European Consumer Centre, Italy)TRAVELLING
Luggage lost? Be careful when shopping!
Lots of tourists have already had this experience: Arrived to your destinations your suitcases do not appear at the airport. After complaining at the corresponding office you hope the best. However, when the day after your bags remain lost you will start buying the necessary things. But be careful: You should reduce your shopping tour to the real necessities.A consumer who tried to get the reimbursements defined in the EU decree 889/02EU can tell you a story about this: The airline did not pay all the products he had on his list because expensive brand articles and perfumes are not considered to be necessary equipment. In fact, in most cases your luggage will reappear within some days. Therefore: you should not go on a careless shopping tour but buy only the really necessary things.
WARRANTY RIGHT
Which rights do you have?
The guidelines of the warranty right has already been realised by nearly all EU member states. It defines the minimum criteria that have to be respected in the national laws: Therefore the right of warranty lasting for two years -one year for second-hand articles- after the day of purchase cannot be reduced by any contract and must be guaranteed by the tradesman. Within this period of warranty the trader is liable for faults and is obliged to repair or exchange the article for free in an appropriate period of time.The removal of the fault must be free of costs: neither material nor the working hours must be paid by the consumer. If the repair is too expensive and the exchange is impossible the consumer can claim a price reduction or the annulment of the contract with reimbursement of the price of purchase.
SÜDDEUTSCHE KLASSENLOTTERIE SKL
Be careful when getting dubious winner e-mails
For a certain period of time a non-identified organisation has been sending e-mails with the brand 'Süddeutsche Klassenlotterie' (Lottery of South Germany) and the logo SKL to addressees all over the world. Those e-mails promise high prizes: The winners should fill in a winning form and mostly they are also asked to pay a certain amount of money in advance.The company 'Süddeutsche Klassenlotterie' informs and warns that they have nothing to do with those e-mails and they have not authorised anyone to use their logo and brand. Our advice is therefore not to react on those e-mails, not to pay any money in advance and not to give any details of your credit card of bank account.
THE CASE OF THE MONTH
America is far, far away: an online-shopper from South Tyrol came to realise that personally. He had bought an electric article from a private seller at an online auction and paid the amount due per bank transfer. However, the parcel with the article did not arrive. Suddenly also the messages from the at first so communicative online-trader stopped and the suspicion that the delivery would never take place got bigger and bigger.As also our appeal to the seller remained without answer we told the consumer to ask for help at an American consumer organisation. With our help the consumer contacted the 'Consumer Fraud Unit' of Orange County, even if he did not believe that he would get his money back ever again.
So it was a big surprise when after a longer period of time we really got a letter by our colleagues from America with a cheque of the owed money.
American consumer protection for an Italian consumer: it would be nice to have more of such examples of international collaboration beyond the borders of continents.
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