The Sunday News
Walter Mswazie Business Correspondent
THE Consumer Council of Zimbabwe Masvingo provincial chapter has appealed to consumers to make informed decisions when buying for the Easter holidays as there were a number of retailers who were after milking consumers of their money without providing standard services. Speaking to Sunday Business on Friday, chairperson Mr Joel Mukusha said consumers should be wary of unscrupulous businesspeople who had a tendency of increasing prices during holidays and urged them to “shop around”.
Mr Mukusha said some local retailers would want to make quick money during holidays through unjustifiably inflating prices.
“At this time of the year, as consumer watchdog we urge consumers to buy wisely. They should at all costs avoid impulse buying. Consumers should learn to compare prices before deciding to buy so as to avoid exceeding their budgets. They should prioritise essential commodities.”
He said some shops had a tendency of overstocking in anticipation of huge profits and some commodities would go bad thereby putting consumers’ health at risk.
“During holidays businesses expect to make huge returns given the volume of customers. Some commodities will pass their shelf life because they would be overstocked. It is against this background that consumers should check the expiry dates on the products they want to buy, especially food products.
“Expired food products may be detrimental to health and consumers are urged to take note,” he said.
Mr Mukusha said due to the absence of customer protection mechanisms, a number of businesspeople may take consumer rights for granted and proceed to exploit them.
“We feel the delay in having the Consumer Protection Act is costing consumers, as there has not been any Statutory Instrument protecting the consumer as of now.
“We have received a number of complaints here in Masvingo of people exploited by businesses through selling expired products. We have tried to assist consumers but due to the absence of a legal instrument sometimes the consumer watchdog is found wanting. The business in question can choose to ignore our recommendations because they will not be legally binding,” he added.
The Consumer Protection Policy is still at Bill stage and yet to be tabled before Parliament for debate.
CCZ carried countrywide consultations soliciting views from individuals and several organisations early this year.
Mr Mukusha also urged consumers against major spending forgetting that they had other obligations.
“It is important to ensure that consumers have enough food to use during Easter holidays but by the same token they must not forego paying rent, water and electricity bills. They should also save for school fees,” he said.
