The National Authority for Consumer Protection (ANPC) announced on Tuesday that it is checking the Chinese online trading platforms Temu and Shein, and recommends that Romanians inform themselves before buying products from the two sites.
The National Consumer Protection wants to check possible “incorrect commercial practices of traders in the relationship with consumers”, according to a press release from the institution.
“The action focuses on the possible unfair commercial practices of traders, in the relationship with consumers, likely to distort, essentially, their economic behavior, respectively potential violations of the horizontal legislation regarding product safety and consumer protection (inauthentic discounts) and aggressive practices – manipulative interfaces (dark patterns), selling under pressure (pressure – selling), rewarding a person’s involvement with a product or service with a prize (gamification), but also other aspects (for example, related to product safety)”, the commissioners said ANPC.
ANPC also recommends Romanians who buy online from these sites, to carefully inform themselves before purchasing a product, about its characteristics, displayed prices, delivery costs, information about the merchant or available payment methods.
Consumers are also advised to read the “Terms and Conditions” section of the website from which they wish to purchase products.
At the same time, the consumer protection authority says that if consumers encounter a problem when shopping online, they should try to resolve it directly with the economic operator, amicably.
“If this does not work, you can turn to the Directorate for Alternative Dispute Resolution within the ANPC, in the case of economic operators with registered offices on the territory of Romania. If the economic operator has its headquarters in another European state, you can contact the European Consumer Center in Romania, which helps you free of charge when you have consumer protection problems with a product or service purchased from another European state , informs you for free about the rights you have during trips to another European state and offers you free support if you have a complaint against a European company, in order to solve the problem”, ANPC also sent.
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