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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 July-August 2006
Insert of n. 49 - Editorial office: Centro Europeo Consumatori (European Consumer Centre, Bolzano - Italy)TRAVELLING I
Disadvantageous Changes of Flight Departure- and Arrival Times on Package Holiday Tours
Recently there have been quite a lot of complaints by consumers of Southtyrol and other Italian regions about disadvantageous changes of flight times on package holiday tours. Some days before the start of the tour the travellers are told that their flights were changed: the outward flight was delayed from the morning to the evening hours or even the night and the return flight is going to start in the early morning instead of the evening as planned. In this way, a tour is reduced, for example, from 9 days, 8 overnight stays, to 8 days with 7 nights. Concerning this problem we would like to remind you to send the letter of complaint within a period of 10 days after returning from the holiday.
TRAVELLING II
Passports: Long Waiting Times for Issuance and Renewal
Now in summer which is the main holiday time and therefore travelling period for a lot of people, many Italian consumers have to deal with difficulties when issuing or renewing their passports. Since there went into force the new regulations for entering the United States, the competent offices have not been able to deal with all the applications which have accumulated during the last months. The offices are understaffed and what is more, many machines on disposal are not suitable for the new service. A possibility to avoid long waiting times for the passport is to turn to the consulate or the embassy and ask for the issuance of a visa. This alternative is now also recommended by many travel agencies.On this occasion we would also like to remind you of the new regulations for tourists who go to the USA for reasons of holiday or travellers who enter the States for reasons of business:
they must have either a mechanically legible passport issued before the 25th October 2005 or a mechanically legible passport with a digital photo issued after the 25th October 2005
TRAVELLING III
Comparison of Prices 2006
Also this year we have had a close look at the prices of different hotels and have chosen for the comparison, as well as last year, a hotel on Mallorca and some hotels on Sardegna. While foe the Spanish hotel we compared the prices of 4 foreign travel companies, we chose an Austrian organizer (Christophorus Reisen GmbH) and an Italian one (Vacanze Smeralde Srl) for the hotels on Sardegna. The corresponding overviews you can find under www.euroconsumatori.org/16842v16934d28106.htmlDOOR-TO-DOOR SELLING
Panaceas: From Door to Door
What should be considered before getting involved with
More and more often in the European Consumer Center we are told that consumers are offered certain liquid ‘remedies’ said to help in a miraculous way against different diseases and health troubles.There is offered, for instance, a not so well-known fruit juice, whose half litre bottle costs about 20 Euro and which is said to help against lots of health troubles. This juice is licensed in Italy according to the so-called ‘Novel Food Regulation’ as a dietary supplement. It is explicitly forbidden by law to advertise for such products with therapeutical or medical attributes, otherwise high administrative fines must be paid. However, you can easily get hold of flyers in which research studies are quoted speaking, for example, of results which show that 88% of allergic people ascertained an ‘ease of symptoms’ when drinking this juice. Very often, consumers are not only asked to buy this product, but also to enter the business as a seller.
The conclusion of the consumer center: think about it thrice before buying as well as before becoming a seller of such products!
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