Pricy electronics

Had an amiable vendor stop you in a shopping street while you are on holiday there? Perhaps you are a touch more tolerant than you would be at home and then the more so when s/he come out with superdeals for cameras, mobiles and other electronics. S/he invites you into his shop and offers you a tablet for 100 euro. A wildly low price, which just whiffs of misleading trading practice.

The vendor is quick to say that he has to make a quick adjustment to the device first, and then palms you off with a new hard disk. Because only in that way will you have a true top grade device. That hard disk costs you more, a couple of hundred euro, or even a thousand or more euro. You pay without really understanding why. Some victims mistrust the drink the vendor gave them.

You realise quite quickly afterwards that you have been a victim of a misleading trading practice. A brief internet search is enough to confirm that the material you bought is nothing more than an inferior, cheap version of the known branded products sold in traditional, specialist stores. Since you never received any document, you have nothing available to be able to combat this deceitful sale.

One golden tip: shrug off street vendors

Because it would seem that cancelling a purchase and obtaining a refund are all but impossible, there is only one avoidance tip to offer you: politely but resolutely shrug off street vendors of electronic devices. Just carry on your own way and do not follow the street vendors towards their store.

If it is too good to be true it probably is. Watch out for counterfeit products: cheap, unchecked materials may have all kinds of nasty consequences. To think only of the hazards of explosion or poisoning.

Have you been a victim of such deceitful selling practices?

If you have been the victim of deceitful selling practices like these, ECC Belgium can show you what you can do to try to obtain a repayment:

• Are you still in the location? Then you should file a complaint with the local police.
• Once home again, send the vendor a registered letter requesting him to cancel the purchase and to repay in full.
• If you paid (in part) with a Belgian credit card, dispute the transaction through www.mijnkaart.be or www.macarte.be.
• If the vendor is registered in the EU, you can submit a complaint to ECC Belgium.