CONSUMERS GUIDE TO POST HURRICANE IVAN

Consumers, be on the look out for illegal and consumer unfriendly practices on the part of vendors post hurricane Ivan and report them to the Consumer Affairs Commission. The most serious of these practices include:

Price Gouging
This refers to the placement of an unfair sale value on goods and services that cannot be justified when the costs of the inputs, operating costs and a "fair" profit are taken into consideration. A fair price may be determined by looking at the cost of similar items in the same market space and/or, the price at which the item could have been obtained before an event such as a hurricane, war or earthquake occurred. Another important indicator of what is considered a fair price is whether or not the consumer base rejects that particular item in preference to other, more fairly price equivalent items.

Hoarding
As the title implies, this refers to the illegal activity of suppliers withholding goods from the market to create an artificial supply shortage with the aim of among other things, hiking prices at some future time.

Tied Selling or Marrying of Goods
This involves the practice of restricting the sale of one item unless it is purchased with another item, which by their nature and commercial purposes are separate and unrelated.
Engaging in such practices stalls the process of recovery by depleting consumer confidence and limits the amount of income they have at their disposal to restore their lives to a state of normalcy.

Precautions
Other areas in which consumers should make sure to be extra vigilant at this time is in relation to their purchases of food items. Outbreaks and incidences of food borne illnesses tend to increase especially following disasters where utilities and certain basic amenities might not be as easily available or accessible.
As always, make sure to receive and retain your receipts as this will help to facilitate the processing of your complaints when reporting any such incidences.

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Write to us at: 1B Holborn Road, Kingston 10 Or call us at: 926-1650-2 or toll free 1-888-991-4470, ask for our Information Desk