World Consumer Day: Know your rights when shopping

One of the activities that a person who works from Monday to Friday, or even Saturday, enjoys the most is relaxing after a hard week at work. And an activity to disconnect from work for a few hours is go shopping.

Whether alone, as a couple or with the family, shopping in a mall can mean a few hours of well-deserved leisure which can be used as a relaxation method for some people. However, what should be a nice relaxing time, could turn into a nightmare.

This is why, taking advantage of the fact that today is consumer day, the National Institute for the Defense of Competition and Protection of intellectual property (Indecopi) published the Consumer Protection and Defense Code.

This is a list that contains the main rights that all consumers should know to avoid spending a bad time when go shopping

Likewise, it will help all buyers to better choose which product to buy or what services to buy.

This decalogue is composed as follows:

1.- Receive information clear and punctual to decide on the purchase. don’t be fooled

2.- Safe purchase: no product or service should imply a danger to our physical integrity or security.

3.- You must not be discriminated in consumer relations.

4.- Receive the products and services adaptedas offered and for what you paid.

5.- Free choice: no one can rush you or condition you buy something you don’t want or have doubts about.

6.- Protection against abusive commercial methods: no one should in any case encourage you to buy something using means of coercion, threat or lie.

7.- If the product does not arrive under the conditions initially proposed, repair or replacement of this product is your right.

8.- If you are able to advance the payment of a debt before the due date, you can do so without being taxed a penalty.

9.- When you have a claim or complaint, you must receive the required attention in the term established.

10.- You have the right to be heard, individually or collectivelythrough consumer associations.

Similarly, Indecopi is also learning that consumers have a series of tools intended to avoid conflicts at the time of consumption. And if that should happen, well, who knows what to do.

– “Look who you buy from” portal:

In this portal, all citizens have the opportunity to review and learn about all suppliers who have received a sanction for violating the Consumer Protection and Defense Code. Undoubtedly, this information will help consumers make better decisions.

– Complaint book

Made available to the public a few years ago in all commercial establishments in the country, the Complaints book It is used when a person decides to lodge a complaint or a claim with the supplier, after an inconvenience has occurred during the purchase of a good or the contracting of a service.

As an essential requirement for all commercial establishments, this book must be physically or virtually available.

– Indecopi service centers

At the national level, there are 40 service centers of Indecopi so that consumers can submit their complaints quickly. And you can know them in this link www.gob.pe/institution/indecopi/sedes

– Indecopi Service Channels

Finally, Indecopi also has other channels so that consumers report if they believe that their rights as such have been violated.

If that were the case, you have several ways to send them your complaint. By email at [email protected] or on the telephones: 224-7777 (Lima) and 0800-4-4040 (provinces).