Over half of Thai consumers have had bad experiences purchasing goods and/or services, with exaggerated claims topping the list of their complaints in a recent poll.
The Ban Somdej poll, released in Chaladsue (Smart Buying) magazine published by the Thailand Consumer Council, surveyed 1,143 consumers in Bangkok between Sept 22-26 -- of which 54.7% said their rights as a consumer had been violated on several occasions.
Chief among their complaints were overstated and/or misleading claims of a good and/or service (26.4%), followed by incorrect measurements (23.9%), substandard quality (22.2%), expired goods (12%), undelivered orders (7.7%) and unlabelled products (7.5%).
The respondents were also asked what goods and services they would like to see reviewed by Thailand's consumer watchdog, to which they answered electric appliances (22.4%), followed by cosmetics products (20.4%), food (18%), drinks (9.4%), internet service providers (7.8%), public transport services (7.4%), mobile telephone connection (6.6%), goods delivery (4.5%) and food delivery (3.3%).
Narumon Mekborisut, deputy director of the Foundation for Consumers' rights protection unit, yesterday called on people to take action if they suspect their rights have been violated.
"While over 50% of the respondents claimed to have had bad experiences, the actual number of complaints we receive is relatively low," she said.
The foundation received 1,192 complaints between January and September, 516 of which were about financial and/or banking services, while 324 concerned goods and services.
Substandard goods topped the list of complaints, followed by refunds, poor customer service, exaggerated or misleading claims, undelivered orders and fraud.
Many consumers are unaware of their rights but should contact related authorities to ensure these are protected, she said.