Campaign for consumers
Published:Friday | December 10, 2010 | 12:00 AM
Regional consumer advocates stepped up their campaign for improved services Wednesday with the launch of the Promotion of Consumer Protection in the Caribbean Project in Kingston.
Representatives from Barbados, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and an observer from Suriname are reviewing, at a three-day seminar which closes today, long-standing consumer concerns and how to tackle them under the three-year project.
Dolsie Allen, chief executive officer of Jamaica's Consumer Affairs Commission (CAC), says educating consumers will also be a priority.
"The vendors are not realising that our consumers are powerful, that they can determine if their business fails or succeeds because of the way they treat us," Allen told the Financial Gleaner.
She said consumers across the region face similar problems, such as questionable store contracts, poor customer service and sub-standard appliances coming in from overseas.
Allen said retail stores and banks bear the greatest criticism in Jamaica.
"When you look at some of these contracts, they have some onerous terms and conditions, and most times the weaker of the parties is the consumer," she said. "We have been reviewing some of these contracts and made recommendations to vendors about changes."
Allen pointed to bureaucracy and shoddy service as the biggest concerns with the banking sector.
Minister of Industry and Commerce, Karl Samuda, was represented by his permanent secretary, Reginald Budhan, at Wednesday's event. Reading from a statement, Budhan, said a competitive global economy makes it even more important to protect consumers.
"Although the consumer is still conveniently regarded as king, invariably we are exploited in one way or the other," he said. "To be really effective, we need to be more organised."
In November, the CAC declared it was seeking to have the 2005 Consumer Protection Act amended to deal with customer-related grouses. Currently, these cases are settled in the courts.
Allen is also president of the Caribbean Consumer Council, which was set up in 2005 to monitor service standards throughout the region, in light of the pending CARICOM Single Market.