ANPC fined shops with a total of RON 122,000 after receiving 63 complaints following last year's Black Friday campaign

Black Friday is supposed to be a sale campaign through which shops can get rid of the old generation products so they can sale the new ones. Unfortunately, in Romania many of the advertised sales are more or less lies, meaning that the discounts are not as big as they are supposed to be.

The National Authority for Consumer Protection (ANPC) fined shops totaling RON 122,000 following Black Friday’s discount campaign in November 2017, although sales in that period reached EUR 200 million (about RON 900 million) and the Competition Council found that 80 percent of the offers were illegal.

ANPC received 63 complaints following the Black Friday campaign in November 2017 and fines totaling RON 122,000 to companies that cheated consumers, according to a replied by authority at Agerpres’s request.

By comparison, sales in the main Black Friday promotional campaign amounted to about EUR 200 million in 2017, accounting for approximately 7 percent of the year-round sales. Therefore, fines given by ANPC represent only 0.01 percent of the total merchants.

This, although in May, the Competition Council released a report according to which online retailers do not comply with the legislation during the discount campaigns, which is a generalized behavior.

The Competition Council noted that the price at which the cut (the “cut” price) displayed by online retailers was higher than the statutory level for about 80 percent of the monitored products. In addition, in 20 percent of cases, prices were even higher than usual. The Council sent the data to ANPC, which is the authority that is able to sanction this illegal behavior.

Asked what measures ANPC had taken following that report, the representatives of the institution replied: “ANPC acts in accordance with the consumer protection legislation respectively Government Decision No. 700/2012 on the organization and functioning of the National Authority for Consumer Protection (not as a result of the reports made by other entities, authorities).”

However, following the Black Friday campaign, consumers complained to ANPC that there were products that were deficient or non-compliant with site specifications, that they received other products instead of those ordered, or that delivery terms were not met.

Other complaints concerned non-compliance with repayment terms, incorrect consumer behavior, non-compliance with remedial terms, and misleading business practices (eg non-compliance with pricing or the existence of a specific price advantage).

Asking what measures are taken to prevent this from happening again, ANPC officials have indicated “random monitoring of offers and promotional campaigns during the year 2018 at the main retailers carrying out the Black Friday campaign.”

ANPC recommends that consumers pay close attention during promotions. To verify, before the contract is concluded, whether the economic operator provides accurate and accurate information on his identification data (name, postal and electronic address, telephone number, company and tax registration number, etc.) on the site; the essential characteristics of the product; the price with all taxes included; delivery costs, if applicable; payment and delivery methods; the period of validity of the offer or price; the minimum duration of the contract in the case of contracts providing for the regular or regular supply of a product; the existence and manner of exercising the right to terminate the contract unilaterally.

In addition, consumers are encouraged to avoid operators who do not display complete contact data, which only resembles an email address, compare price offers, and if goods are shipped abroad, pay attention to postal and other charges costs that the business operator does not display (customs or VAT).

“Contact the retailer by phone to ask for additional information about the product, after-sales service, or delivery conditions, and how to answer these questions can provide consumers with clues about the seller’s seriousness. It is preferable to buy from companies known or that have no negative comments from consumers on forums or on service evaluation sites, “continued ANPC officials.

At the same time, the consumer must know that, once he has received a product ordered on the internet, he has 14 days to return it without having to invoke any reason to do so.

If the product is returned, the consumer can recover the amount from the merchant within 14 days. The economic operator shall reimburse all the sums it has received as payment from the consumer, including, where applicable, the costs of delivery without undue delay and in any case not later than 14 days from the date on which it is informed of the decision withdrawal from the consumer contract.

ANPC also advises people to print to the printer the order, terms and conditions that appear on the site at the time of purchase, for the trader subsequently modifying this information from the site.

“Be careful when providing credit card or debit card details on the internet, always check if data is processed by secure protocol, refuse transaction if PIN is required,” added the authority’s representatives.

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