Consumer Council registered $1.6 million worth of consumer complaints

The Consumer Council of Fiji has registered $1.6 million worth of consumer complaints in the past 5 years in Labasa.

Consumer Council of Fiji Chief Executive Officer Premila Kumar says the Council has registered 1144 complaints in Labasa in the past 5 years which is $320,000 worth of complaints every year.

Kumar says based on the nature of complaints recorded, the Council noted that consumers in Labasa faced a variety of issues when dealing with traders.

She says the top 10 complaints received were on mobile products, hardware, landlord and tenancy issues, electronic goods, food and drinks, television services, hire purchase, spare parts and footwear and bags.

Kumar says initially consumers in Labasa were hesitant to lodge complaints for fear of being victimized by traders or service providers.

She says consumers did not want to spoil their relationship with the traders in Labasa as it is a small town with a very close knit community whereby everyone knew each other.

Kumar says for this reason, the Council will conduct a workshop in Labasa tomorrow.

She says consumers and traders that are part of the workshop will be given opportunities to discuss key consumer issues affecting their community and the workshop aims to enlighten the participants on consumer protection laws and the various consumer redress mechanisms that are available to them to seek remedy.

She says it is also an opportunity to empower traders to be more aware of their legal obligations to consumers.

The workshop will be held at the USP Conference Room, Labasa Campus from 9am‑2pm tomorrow.