DIRECTOR OF CONSUMER AFFAIRS HIGHLIGHTS THE IMPORTANCE OF PROOF OF PURCHASE

Basseterre, St. Kitts, April 16, 2021 (SKNIS): Director of the Department of Consumer Affairs, Paul Queeley, emphasized the importance of proof of purchase during the popular radio and television show ‘Working for You’ on April 14.

Mr. Queeley said that “The receipt is very important; this is your contract between the supplier and yourself to show that you actually purchased the item from there.”

“If you purchased an item and it is deemed to be faulty, businesses in most cases don’t like to accept responsibility to say that the item that they’re providing is actually faulty,” he said. “But if it was actually faulty on their part and it wasn’t damaged by the consumer, the business would be liable to provide certain remedies for the situation.”

“They could repair the item, they could refund your money, or they could exchange the item,” said Mr. Queeley.

He also said it was illegal for store owners to hang signs saying that “you cannot get your money back or no refunds because it is going against what is in the Act.”

He added that “The store that purchased that item from overseas is the one who will be responsible for that item. If you purchased the item, you could take the item back to them once you have the warranty card and that store in turn will be responsible for trying to fix the item even if it involves taking it, sending it back to the company that they got it from because there are implied warranties which are that you expect the item to work in the manner that it should and there is an expressed warranty which is the card inside the item which sets out the time frame for returning it.”

Mr. Queeley also said that “The businesses although they may want to tell you that that’s the end of the road or you will have to deal with it on your own if something goes wrong with it, that is not actually the case. The business is the one who would have to send it back to the place that they got it from.”