Consumers urged to be cautious with local online shopping pages

…as CCAC reports difficulty in securing redress

The Competition and Consumer Affairs Commission (CCAC) is urging citizens to be vigilant when entering into any transaction with sellers on the local online market places. According to Head of the CCAC’s Consumer Affairs Unit, Rusante Perry, not being able to resolve cases in which citizens were scammed by online sellers has been a major challenge for the commission this year.
In an exclusive interview with Guyana Times, Perry revealed that complaints lodged this year ranged from the nonfunctioning of items purchased to items being materially different in brand and quality from those which were advertised. She noted that, in some instances, sellers immediately deleted their accounts after scamming buyers, while others operated under several different names online. This, paired with consumers’ reluctance to resecure sufficient information about sellers on the local market place, has posed a challenge for the commission when seeking redress from sellers.
“The only things they know is that they found this seller on the market place and they bought the item, but when we’re going to investigate, we sometimes cannot locate the seller on the market place. So, we’re urging consumers to collect sufficient information about the supplier even before making the purchase,” Perry cautioned.
In addition to securing sufficient information about sellers on the local market place, Perry issued a call for citizens to do background checks on sellers. Checks range from verifying information published by sellers to conducting reviews on previous posts issued. She
explained that this can play a pivotal role in resolving complaints and preventing buyers from being deceived by scammers.
“We also encourage consumers to see if they can pick up the location of the supplier, because we noticed that a lot of these suppliers offer delivery services. They will meet at Cuffy, they will meet at City Mall, and so (buyers) do not know where to find them. So, we’re not (saying) all businesses are like this, but sometimes if something is too good to be true, it’s too good to be true. So, (buyers) need to do their background checks for themselves as well,” she detailed.
Given the high demand for goods and services at this time, the Competition and Consumer Affairs Commission is admonishing citizens to remain vigilant and safeguard themselves when engaging in online transactions. This includes, among other things, ensuring receipts and warranties are provided after every purchase has been made.

Defective items
The Competition and Consumers Affairs Commission has said it would be amplifying its business complaints inspection exercises in 2024 to ensure that items being advertised by suppliers are appropriate for sale. This year, a total of 1170 business inspections were completed across nine of ten administrative regions.
Perry explained that the Commission would continue doing inspection during the Christmas season.
“We want to see consumers getting redress without our intervention. We want to see suppliers doing what they’re required to do by the law; but definitely, during this Christmas season, we want to ensure they’re doing the right thing, because in January we usually receive a lot of complaints. I don’t think any month this year has surpassed the number of complaints we receive in January”, she detailed.
Additionally, the Commission would be creating more sensitization content, which will be administered through social media platforms as well as on radio and television. This is in an effort to educate consumers and suppliers about their rights, as stipulated in the Consumer Affairs Act.