During my recent shopping trips to buy Christmas gifts for my loved ones and friends, I noted that many shops do not exhibit prices on their wares. Most items are not tagged and, if they are, they either have a code number or their price tag is conveniently hidden behind the objects in question. Most guilty of this practice are jewellers' shops where they sell silver giftware and watches, which happen to be very expensive items.

Needless to say, I just ignore these shops as I would certainly not enter each shop to ask the dealer the price of every item I happen to fancy.

I do not know if this practice to exhibit unpriced goods is legal. If it is, the Office of Fair Trading should put pressure on the government to enact the necessary legislation to protect the customer. If it is illegal, action should be taken against all traders who display their goods unpriced. I am sure that, if action is taken against these shops, Government revenue will certainly increase as the offending shops are many indeed.

In my opinion, even particular items, when advertising solely by themselves in the media, should be priced, as I consider this very essential to fair trading and competition.

Finally, I exhort fellow readers to boycott shops that offer goods unpriced as I feel that customers should play their part against this practice.

Before I close, may I thank you for the good work you are doing with your Customer Service Column. May I also convey to you and your staff sincere seasonal greetings. (Emanuel Muscat)

I thank Mr Muscat for highlighting such an important issue. This is indeed an issue well worth discussing in our column. We can also share experiences and I encourage readers who have had experiences in dealing with outlets who do not display prices to write to me. We can learn from each others' experiences.

First of all, I must assure Mr Muscat that the suspicion expressed between his lines is indeed correct. Displaying unpriced goods is not legal. Moreover, to be fair, officials in the Consumer and Competition Division do monitor shops accordingly.

In any case I am inclined to agree with Mr Muscat's idea to exhort fellow readers to boycott shops that display unpriced goods. Moreover, I totally agree with his "feeling" that customers should play their part against this practice. In this spirit there is nothing to stop us consumers from helping the Consumer and Competition Division officials by being pro-active.

As consumers we must maximise on market forces and, through our column, we can share information about outlets which do not display prices. To begin with, through this column, we can share information about such shops/outlets. We can then drive the point home to such outlets by asking them the prices of unpriced items on display. In no uncertain terms, we have a legal right to know. In this spirit I might as well start by asking you, dear readers, whether you are interested in volunteering to help.

We can set up a group of keen pro-active and assertive consumers willing to set up an action group accordingly. In the meantime, I must stress that this is not the last article in this column on this issue. Next week I shall feature comments on this issue by Marcel Pizzuto, director-general, Consumer and Competition Division.

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