Poland - What do consumers complain about?
Shoes and clothing, home electronics and household appliances, telecommunication services, financial services, repair and construction services – these are the most common problems we reported to the consumer ombudsmen. In 2010 they provided more than 386,000 opinions.
In 2008 - over 300 thousand, in 2009 - almost 350 thousand, in 2010 - over 386 thousand - so many complaints were received by the municipal and poviat consumer ombudsmen. The most frequent concern faulty shoes, clothing, home electronics and household appliances. We are also dissatisfied with the telecommunications and financial services. What else did the complaints last year regard?
Sales agreements - the most common problems
Complaint - not only just consumers rarely know about it - sellers are also unaware of the rules protecting weaker market participants. Ombudsmen intervened when e.g. a shop rejected the complaint citing the opinion of its own experts, did not observe the 14-day deadline for its consideration, or made the response dependent on a personal visit of the consumer in the shop. Most often we had a problem with the complaints regarding products that are defective or inconsistent with the agreement. Most advice concerned the poor quality of footwear and clothing (63,102 – many times the seller rejected the claim regarding broken shoes, blaming the consumer for the defect), electronics and household appliances (37,405), apartment equipment (23,766) and computers (14,400).
The number of problems with shopping online and off-premises, i.e. on a variety of shows, presentations during excursions e.g. to the places of worship, during stay in sanatoriums or on holiday – increased from over 18 thousand in 2009 to 24,849 a year later. Problems related to not homogenous standard forms of agreements, lack of information about the right to withdraw from the agreement within 10 days, or the lack of regulation of the seller. There were also cases of falsification of signatures on the agreements, or failures to ship the goods ordered.
Services – the most common problems
Defects of mobile phones purchased in the promotion, the launch of additional services in breach of the agreement, interruptions in Internet access, inflated bills - these are just some of the problems regarding the telecommunications services. Last year, the ombudsmen provided 37,330 opinions related to telecommunications. Other interventions: the case of construction services (16,103 opinions) - no agreement concluded in writing, rejecting the complaint, the use of low quality materials, delays, requesting payment of a higher price than that agreed. In the case of tourism services (8,225 opinions) - inferior standard of accommodation and means of transport, an adverse change in the trip program, poor food quality, shortening of the event.
Within three years the number of complaints relating to financial services has increased - from 15,056 thousand in 2008, by 21,326 thousand in 2009 to 21,985 thousand a year later. Last year, most of them were in Małopolskie and Mazowieckie Voivodeships, the least in Lubelskie Voivodeship. Among others, they concerned difficulties in understanding the mortgage agreements, operations of debt collection agencies, to which the borrower’s debt was sold, obtaining of credit settlement confirmation, incorrect billing, problems with escaping the so-called spiral of debt. Example? An elderly consumer, who received a low pension, reported to the Consumer Ombudsman in Rypin, as financial institutions granted her 23 different charges for the amount of PLN 80 thousand. After deduction of the amounts for the repayment of installments, the consumer has to keep up with the amount of PLN 300 per month. Thanks to the intervention of the Rypin ombudsman it was possible to rationally spread the payments, and the institutions have ceased aggressive debt collection activities.
Other activities
In the event of the consumer-undertaking dispute, generally, without the intervention of the ombudsman, a weaker party cannot enforce its rights. Consumer ombudsmen very often face the undertakings with calls to clarify the circumstances and settle the disputes by way of conciliation. Last year they benefited from this opportunity more than 60 thousand times. Most often in the case of sales agreements - over 28 thousand - intervening e.g. in case of refusal to accept the claims after six months from the date of purchase of shoes. Most of these interventions met the expectations of consumers.
Where to seek assistance?
Under the law, the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection takes actions in the case of violation of the collective consumer interests. On the other hand, in the event of individual problems we may rely on the assistance of the municipal or poviat consumer ombudsman. In Poland there operate 371 municipal and poviat consumer ombudsmen, who provide free advice and information on our rights. In addition, they conduct mediations, analyze the content of agreements and warranty cards, help preparing complaints. Their tasks include the preparation of claims and other pleadings for consumers or filing legal claims.
The Office advises that in addition to municipal and poviat consumer ombudsmen, free counseling is also available at the infoline 0 800 007 707. The dispute may also be resolved amicably by conciliation courts operating at the Trade Inspection. First of all, the consumer should lodge the free of charge application. Presently, at the Voivodeship Trade Inspectorates there exist 16 permanent consumer conciliation courts and 15 nationwide centers. They deal with the matters concerning property rights, which arose as a result of agreements regarding sales of products and provision of services to consumers.
Read the press release.