During the execution of the surveillance and services approach operation carried out nationwide from friday may 3 to Sunday May 12, the Defensoría del Consumidor attended 3,502 consumers and carried out 180 inspections.

*Services by sector

Financial services (1,262; 36%) accounted for 78% of the claims handled, followed by services (892; 25%); telecommunications (313; 9%); electrical appliances and household items (183; 5%); and electric energy (107; 3%).

A total of 88% of the complaints were motivated by charges, fees and undue commissions, in about 1,298 cases (37%); breach of contract or offer in 1,208 cases (34%); poor quality of the product or service, which reported 231 cases (7%); over-indebtedness with 202 cases (payment plan) (6%); and violation of the right of withdrawal and cancellation of purchase, which registered 134 cases (4%).

*Market surveillance

Regarding the surveillance of suppliers of goods and services, the Defensoría del Consumidor identified compliance with the main provisions of the Consumer Protection Law in 93.33% (168) of the inspections, and in 6.67% (12) findings of non-compliance were detected, which triggered the administrative procedure before the Sanctioning Court of the CD.

These findings were mainly due to lack of information on promotions and offers (41.67%); expired product (41.67%); price increase for credit card purchases (8.33%); and non-compliance with the supplier's obligations prior to the purchase in electronic commerce (8.33%).

The Defensoría prevented the sale and consumption of 39 expired food products in 3 restaurants and 2 convenience stores, mainly bakery, carbonated and non-carbonated beverages, alcoholic beverages and dressings, among others. Most of the expired products were found in establishments located in the west and center of the country.

In addition, during the inspection operations in the main establishments that sell various food products, 112 non-automatic weighing instruments (scales) were verified to ensure that consumers receive the amount of the product according to the exact net content they pay for and to prevent damage to their pockets, as well as to verify that these businesses have the certification issued by the Centro de Investigaciones de Metrología (CIM). Compliance with this legal provision was recorded in 89.29% of the inspections, while in 10.71% sanctioning procedures were initiated before the CD Court.

Translated by: A.M