Consumer protection

Egay Uy . 

SHOPPERS should be conscious on how supermarkets display items on the shelves and their supposed price tags.  Last week, my son Jose and I were at one of the older supermarkets to buy a few items.  Among those that we bought was a pouch of coffee creamer.

The pouches on display were of the 170 gram and other sizes, except any 200 gram pouch.  Ironically, the price tag that was placed below the items showed that each 200-gram pouch cost P35.90.  Consequently, the 170-gram pouch must cost lower than P35.90.

At the cashier, the cash register read the bar code of the 170-gram pouch and the price indicated was P35.90.  I registered my protest to the cashier but since the store supervisor was not around, I paid for that amount.

This is one for the Department of Trade and Industry to mediate. I already filed a complaint before the Provincial Office of the DTI and the matter was submitted to mediation proceedings, thanks to the Provincial Director Ms. Almer Masillones and Ms. Rozanne San Juan for the prompt action.

Shoppers should be conscious of the price tags placed by supermarkets and grocery stores on the shelves which must indicate, among other things, the price and the size of the item displayed.  And in case of discrepancy between what is indicated on the price tag and what the cash register shows, the shopper should pay only the lesser amount.

And shoppers should also check the expiration dates of the items purchased.  There was one supermarket last year whose merchandiser in-charge did not do his job because there were expired items on display.  The CdeO-City Price Coordinating Council and the DTI-MOR at that time removed from the shelves almost a cartload of expired items and penalized the store.

This year, as it has done in previous years, the CdeO-CPCC will continue to do its job to protect the rights of consumers.  We have initially laid down programs in pursuit of this mandate.

The year 2018 was a good one for the council.  Harnessing the hard work of the council will literally be a walk in the park because of its dedicated members and the full support of the DTI-MOR and the city’s Committee on Trade and Commerce chaired by Councilor George Goking.

And thanks to Mayor Oscar Moreno for giving us the opportunity to render public service.

(Egay Uy is a lawyer. He chairs the City’s Regulatory and Complaint Board, co-chairs with the city mayor the City Price Coordinating Council, and chairs the city’s Joint Inspection Team.  He retired as a vice president of Cepalco.)