Consumer Rights

Legal Human Rights
21

For Danny, {{{{{There’s this big posting on the first floor that says that foreigners winning prizes over NT$13,333 have to pay 20% tax. }}}
According to the office staff of the Taipei City government, the consumer protection law says: as long as the “rules” are said up front (in accordance with the Consumer protection law), then valid. In your case, the department store should give you what you deserve. If there drawing system can’t recognize the id# rather then the local id# here in taiwan, they should post the remark on the game rules.

{{{Has anyone(a foreigner) applied for a Department Store credit card? With the Department Store’s credit card a discount is given on purchases and you can get free gifts… I applied for the SOGO one but didn’t get it. }}}
In Sogo case, if you got a department store credit card (doesn’t matter local people or foreigners), you should be able to get a 10% discount on each purchase that has been made (i think on sales items are exception, most of the time). The sales person won’t tell you this…you have to remind them that you get a 10% coz. you are using the sogo credit card. As for the free gifts, you will have to go to Soso more often to see what the free gifts that they give away time to time…some people get the dm from the mail, but most of them don’t… and they won’t tell you either…
Oh, you can go to their website to see the latest news, the free gift will be displayed on thier site. Remember, bring your sogo credit card with you all the time, in case you run into sogo and luckily get a chance to get a free gift on time :slight_smile:

For Spack: About the cash refund… it’s not really working here in Taiwan, especially food… The law doesn’t explain that in detail, but if the store policy didn’t indicate the opened package can’t be refund for case, then they will have to give the money back to you. And also, the food is bad (even the date is still valid), they should be shamed of that, and you should get your money back. Because the bad food could cause health problems, therefore, they should return your money (I have asked the office stuffs of Taipei county Government).
The cash refund is binding only for some circumstances. Mostly, as you said, they will tell you to get the new one for replacement, or get a equal value products instead. The problem is people will abuse many rights here… such as human right. I will have to say that the cash refund issue in Taiwan are not mature yet, i have seen people in Taiwan abused that policy in a store… even in the States (but those weren’t Americans) i just can’t stand it.
I think it will take, who knows how long for the law to add that in, importanly, people here in Taiwan should be ready being the resonable consumers.
So before that, understand the store policy whenever making purchases. If you think the store policies are against the Consumer Protection Law, you should call the hot line, for Taipei city 02-2725-6169, Taipei county 02-2968-6898 ext. 3106
The non government org. in Taipei 02-2700-1234

P.S. i had been treated unfairly, so i filed complans and got my money back.
Just stick up your basic consumer right, and you will be fine.

22

Thanks piggynut. I hope in time, supermarkets will realize that it is in their economic interests to give a s**t about what their customers think. I have never been back in that store since, even though it is conveniently located. I go to other stores nearby instead. In other words they are losing my custom, and potentially that of other customers as I’ve spread the word about my bad experience.

Beginning around ten years ago in the UK, supermarkets fought to attract customers by offering to replace a product AND refund the money. It’s standard now in most if not all large supermarkets chains. Sure, it gets abused here and there but overall, supermarkets who don’t offer it, lose out to those who do. Of course, the greatest benefit is to the consumer. I wonder how long it will be before things change in Taiwan, though. Ten years?

23

I realize that it isn’t really representative of Taiwan’s consumer laws, but I did have a good experience at Carrefour over the weekend.

Bought a DVD, took it home, opened it but was unable to play it on my machine. Took it back (along with the machine - as per their advice) and after the assistance of a number of staff, and a lot of trials we were able to discover that the disc was not faulty. Upon discovering this, they were willing to give a full cash refund, which is their policy.

I appreciated their help and ended up actually buying a new DVD player so that I could watch the DVD!

The policy in their stores (which is clearly marked) is that with the exception of digital goods (and food I suppose) cash refunds on goods purchased are available anytime within 30 days, for whatever reason. This is obviously much longer than the Taiwan standard of seven days. Digital goods only have a seven day window of return.

Peace of mind for those shopping at Carrefour, and hopefully we may see some of the same policies creeping out into Chinese stores in the future.

24

Adding to my comment yesterday, if you have any problems (or having difficulties with the store) regarding the products that you purchased, there is a consumer hot line on the back of the pack (or outer package). It will be more efficient just to contact them right away. I had good experiences from there…

25

Just to tag onto this issue of consumer rights, I have a tactic that has worked wonders for me here in Taiwan.

If you need something (i.e return a purchase) and the person behind the counter says they can’t do it, DON’T GIVE UP.
Just stand there and argue with them. It works better if you use some Chinese. throw in lots of

26

In the field of Chinese negotiation, this is the a part of the “deduct the disputed amount” technique/strategy.

Due to the various Chinese superstitions involving the sale of items, it seems to be “bad luck” for the store to refund the purchase price and hence lose the business (i.e. “sales”) that that represents.

Hence, the customer is asked to purchase another item of a similar greater price, and then to view the value of this “returned item” as the disputed amount . . . . . . whereby the disputed amount is deducted from the final tally.

This has always been the norm in Mom and Pop stores in Taiwan, and my Taiwanese wife has always suggested that I become accustomed to it. I realize that a large department store doesn’t appear to be a Mom and Pop type of store . . . . . however in fact it is run on many of the same principles . . . . .

27

In the field of Chinese negotiation, this is the a part of the “deduct the disputed amount” technique/strategy.

Due to the various Chinese superstitions involving the sale of items, it seems to be “bad luck” for the store to refund the purchase price and hence lose the business (i.e. “sales”) that that represents.

Hence, the customer is asked to purchase another item of a similar greater price, and then to view the value of this “returned item” as the disputed amount . . . . . . whereby the disputed amount is deducted from the final tally.

This has always been the norm in Mom and Pop stores in Taiwan, and my Taiwanese wife has always suggested that I become accustomed to it. I realize that a large department store doesn’t appear to be a Mom and Pop type of store . . . . . however in fact it is run on many of the same principles . . . . .[/quote]

Not all stores have this policy. Daichi is one of them. I’d rather shop there and pay a little more than deal with superstitious rip-off bullshit.

28

since someone brought up carrefore…

the other day i asked about their special card membership and they told me i couldn’t apply because i was a foriegner. i was in a hurry and didn’t press the issue.

anyone know if this is true and why?