Take precautionary measures while shopping

Dec 22, 2017 News

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– GNBS advises consumers

It is within the rights of consumers to ensure that they are not taken advantage of while shopping during the Christmas season, and even beyond. The Guyana National Bureau of Standards [GNBS] is poised to help in this regard.
The Standards bureau has been taking full advantage of the mass media to spread important messages to enlighten the public about precautionary measures they should adhere to.
This is in light of the fact that the Christmas season is usually recognised as one of the very busy shopping periods of the year.
According to GBNS Public Relations Officer, Lloyd David, consumers must not fail to remain alert. “Persons are going to be buying all sorts of items this Christmas season such as gift items and items for the home but they must be cautious. This is the time you are shopping [because] you got the money and you want to impulse shop but the Bureau of Standards is here to advise you to be cautious at the same time,” David asserted.
He recently shared some tips in this regard during a radio programme on 93.1 Real FM. It is expected that such awareness tactics will reach a wide cross section of consumers.
According to David, consumers must be wary of the possibility of purchasing an item that is defective. Further, he amplified that persons should also seek to ensure that the business where the item is being sold offers after-sale services.
“You don’t want to buy an item and then you realise that you can’t take it back,” said David as he disclosed the possibility of some companies implementing a restocking fee.
According to David, some businesses are given the right to implement as much as a 10 percent restocking fee for an item even as small as a dress shirt. “When you are buying items…shirt or furniture or even electrical appliances you need to be careful,” said David as he pointed to the requirements that consumers must adhere to when making purchases especially when it comes to electrical appliances.
In such cases, he said that keen attention must be given to the voltage to ensure that they are compatible with the voltage at the consumer’s residence. “Appliances could come with varying voltages, some of them are just 110 [or 240] so you need to be mindful of that,” said David as he amplified the importance of brand name appliances too.
“Some brand names have good and bad reputations and you need to be thinking about that brand name and buy that brand name that is known to give a long lasting service.”
Of utmost importance, he added, is that these appliances must at all times be affixed with a standard mark. Standard marks are essentially marks that are found at the back of appliances that inform the consumer that the item was tested by an independent third party [other than the manufacturer] and it is of quality.
“When you buy your appliances do your own little inspection…when you walk around the showroom [of a store] don’t look at the front of the items only, also go around and peep at the back for the certification marks,” said David.
The certification marks that are often seen at the back of some appliances include the UL, CSA and the NOM.
He also stressed the need to be cautious when purchasing items such as vinyl and materials for curtain and table cloth. According to him, efforts should be made to ensure that these are measured in metric units.
“Ask for metres instead of yards and you want to observe the measurement of those products. You don’t want to buy from someone who is just passing the item across a table top with some marking or using a piece of stick or rolling it on the floor and saying this is a yard or this is a metre…you want to actually see them use a metre rule with the correct graduation that is verified by the GNBS,” David underscored.
A metre, David emphasised, is about three inches more than a yard which could see customers paying about 10 percent more than what they would have paid for a yard measurement.
The GNBS, for more than 15 years, according to David, has only been verifying devices with metric reading. He, however, noted that many consumers continue to gravitate to measurement with imperial units.
“This is something we are still grappling with but we are asking consumers as you go out to buy your meat, your cheese and other food items…be vigilant don’t just have someone throw some of the items and say this is it; you need to observe the weighing process,” said David.
According to him, too, it is important that consumers ensure that electrical scales are at zero before weighing commences otherwise they could stand to lose.

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