ICCC warns consumers against cheap products

THE Independent Consumer and Competition Commission (ICCC) yesterday warned people to properly check products which are selling cheaply before buying them.
“If a high-quality looking item is selling at a very low price, then obviously, you are taking risk?” an ICCC spokesman said.
The spokesman said people would be wasting money that could be used to buy something better, pricier from recognised, and established shops.
“We are aware there are heaps of cheap products being sold everywhere in PNG but ICCC, or any other organisation, cannot confiscate these products unless we find, or have evidence, that they can pose risk to our everyday life,” he said.
He said ICCC had the responsibility to assist consumers seek redress (exchange for another product or get his/her money back.
“It is the Customs agents at the Internal Revenue Commission (IRC) down at the wharf who are responsible for checking items that are not supposed to be brought into the country – they are at the ports of entry,” he said.
The ICCC comment comes after a Southern Highlands-based trader Jack Hetabe, raised questions about the quality of products sold at the Erima block 1, 2 shop in Port Moresby.
Mr Hetabe said he bought 24 watches, packed in a box last month, and returned home to Tari only to find that 12 of them were not working.
He said this week that when he returned on Tuesday, hoping to change them, the shop owner refused his request but when he produced receipts only 10 watches’ batteries were replaced.
When he complained, police were called and a policeman arrived to order him to leave the shop and seek legal advice if he was not happy with the service provided, Mr Hetabe said.
He flew back to Tari yesterday and ICCC could not go through the formal complaints handling procedure to help him seek redress.