Penalise makers of defective products

PUSHPA GIRIMAJI

Whether you are buying a television set or a washing machine, a music system or a microwave, markets today offer a wide range of models and brands to choose from. However, making the right choice, with adequate information backing that choice is still not easy. Confusing signals coming from promotional materials of different brands only make matters worse. Another problem is with after-sales service, which continues to be dismal.

The Consumer Protection Act, for example, gives the customer the right to a replacement or a refund (the choice is that of the consumer) in case a product turns out to be defective, but the industry is yet to acknowledge these rights. In countries like the US and the UK, independent test reports of products by consumer groups provide a good reference point for shoppers.

While in the US, the magazine, Consumer Reports, published by the Consumers Union since 1936 (also online since 1997) helps people buy the right product, in the UK, the magazine, Which? published by the Consumers’ Association, is a customer’s bible for product selection. Since these reports are based on reliable testing of the products in state-of-the art laboratories, people find it easier to choose the right product.

In India, the consumer group, Voice, has been undertaking comparative testing of durables, though on a much smaller scale compared to some of these older groups in the US or the UK. It has published, in its magazine, Consumer Voice, test results on products such as LCDs and plasma TVs, flat screen TV sets, TFT monitors, laptops, music systems, mobile phones and microwave ovens.

Even if some models have gone out of the market, or some new models have come in since the publication, the information helps shoppers understand the product better and make an informed choice. People in North America have another great advantage — the industry-sponsored Better Business Bureaus (or the BBBs as they are called) provide for alternate dispute redress mechanism (ADRM) through mediation, and if that fails, through arbitration. A consumer can approach the BBB for such alternate redress mechanism online, and the process is simple and quick.

If any manufacturer does not comply with the decision of the mediators or arbitrators, then the BBB puts out that information on its website. So customers often look up the BBB site to find out the responsiveness of the manufacturer to complaints and the BBB’s intervention. In other words, the BBB website gives you a fair idea of the attitude of the manufacturers towards complainants and their complaints. The industry bodies in India, too, need to set up similar ADRMs to ensure that complaints are resolved quickly and amicably without wasting any time and without the persons concerned having to resort to the redress available through courts constituted under the Consumer Protection Act.

The Union Ministry of Consumer Affairs needs to take a pro-active role here and force the industry to provide such ADRMs. It would also help matters if courts award better compensation packages to complainants affected by defective products, and also impose punitive damages on those manufacturers and retailers who violate the consumers’ right to a defect-free replacement or a refund. Till that happens, I would suggest that you check on the worldwide web for product features such as safety, ease of use, energy efficiency and also price, and compare different brands. Investigate into the kind of after sales service the company offers. It would also be useful to check on websites that report consumer complaints. That way you can gauge the quality and after sales services of products on the basis of the number of complaints.

Of course you can also buy from electronic shops, where the prices are usually much lower than in the brick and mortar shops. However, before you buy from an e-shop, you must make sure that you are buying from a reliable source, and the site is secure. You must also check on the price to see whether it includes or excludes transportation charges. It is equally important to see the cancellation and refund policy of the e-shop. It is also essential to pin down the e-shop to a date of delivery because customers have experienced delays in delivery with regard to purchases from e-shops.

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