Interesting letters

Despite comments I have just made, I must thank those consumers/readers who send me very interesting letters well worth featuring. I wish I could feature them all but lack of space precludes me from doing so.

This week I am featuring three very interesting letters submitted by Mr Marcel Pizzuto, Mr Gaetano Pace, and Mr Vincent Camilleri.

Consumer Credit Regulations come into force

Credit cards, interest-free credit, car finance deals, hire purchase, bank loans, and 'buy now pay later' deals all constitute ways of borrowing money. Credit is a product like anything else you buy. Therefore you must be careful and compare what lenders are offering.

The Consumer and Competition Division would like to bring to public notice that on July 18 (tomorrow) the Consumer Credit Regulations will come into force. These regulations will enable consumers to be informed about the total cost involved in obtaining credit. Moreover consumers will also be in a better position to find out which are the best terms being offered since they will be able to compare them.

The following points give a brief idea of the main provisions of the Consumer Credit Regulations:

A credit agreement must be made in writing. It must be signed by both the creditor and the borrower and a copy of this agreement must be given to the borrower within ten working days from its signing. Credit agreements (excluding home loans) are subject to the Consumer Credit Regulations (CCR) when they involve amounts of between Lm87 and Lm87,000.

Any advert or any offer displayed on any business premises, which offers credit or offers to arrange a credit agreement wherein a rate of interest or any figures relating to the cost of the credit are indicated, should also include a clear statement of the Annual Percentage Rate of Charge (APR).

A consumer has the right to pay the credit before the time established by the credit agreement and in such a case, the consumer will be entitled to a proportional reduction of the total cost of the credit.

Among other things, a written credit agreement should contain a statement of the APR, which means it has to show "the total cost of the credit to the consumer expressed as an annual percentage of the amount of the credit granted.

A "credit agreement" is an agreement whereby a creditor grants, or promises to grant, to a consumer credit in the form of a deferred payment, loan, or other similar financial accommodation. The credit agreement shall not prejudice the rights of the consumer against the trader in such cases where the goods are not in conformity with the contract of sale.

The creditor, as stipulated under the Consumer Credit Regulations, means:

A trader who grants credit in the course of his trade, business, craft or profession or a group of such traders in connection with the supply of goods or services to the consumers. (Marcel Pizzuto, Director-General, Consumer and Competition Division)

Consumers and traders who require further information on this issue can either call the CCD on 2144-6250 or e-mail: fair.trading@gov.mt.

Stop exploiting consumers

I draw your attention to the exploitation of the consumer with the premise that this is coming not from a radical but from one who, as the Italians say, "di queste cose s'intende". I refer to the recent campaigns in favour of recycling, with which I agree. What I do not agree with is the exploitation of the consumer. I refer to the bring-in sites and the recent campaign to collect used edible oil.

Waste, or rather "used", material is in the hands of the consumer, prime material of production in the hands of the recycling plant. As much as ore in the hands of the population is prime material for the production of steel. The consumer pays for the material. So much so that when the price of the product is determined, all the factors, including labour, packing, freight, etc. are taken into account. Therefore when the consumer buys a product, the consumer pays for the end product which is considered as waste (zibel). Therefore waste has a price tag in the hands of the consumer.

The recycler knows this very well. This is what prompted me to write, for as a consumer, I feel I am being exploited. Government knows also that recycling lightens the financial burdens of disposing of waste to some extent. I say this as I am aware that any industrial process has its by-products as well, and this at a cost. The process of recycling plastics and other materials alleviates the financial burdens of disposal but contributes to global warming and energy consumption. So much goes to say that I am also fully aware of all the implications.

What I want to stress is that if any recycler feels that he needs the prime material for his production he has to pay for it. Let no one present himself as someone who is doing us any favour by collecting our waste. What the recycler gets for free from us he puts on the market for a price. Should any recycler venture into this industry, he should also assess the cost of acquiring the material and not exploit the consumer.

The same goes for the collection sites that are being put up in towns and villages. Schools have launched an education campaign, the banks did the same and many organisations felt they too promote collection sites. What was omitted was the fact that what goes in the bin is not paper, plastic or glass but money.

Remember the issue of plastic bottles as opposed to reusable glass bottles? Many manufacturers refused to opt for glass and persisted in using plastic bottles. We have to pay for that in the form of eco-tax. Therefore when we drop our waste we are dropping money into the collection bins.

Who has the decency of offering a nominal lira per capita per annum in appreciation of our financial contribution?

I have tapped school children on the matter and none was aware that what they were throwing away did in fact carry a cost and value. None knew how much the parents had paid for it.

I therefore encourage you to take up this issue and educate the consumer that whoever wants to have our "waste" has to pay for it.

May I conclude by indicating that these words are coming from one who has been deeply interested in waste matters since the 1960s thanks to Vance Packard and his classic The Waste Makers.

A final note on aluminium beer cans. In the Eighties I turned down a business proposal from a foreign company to install a "juke box" style of container in bars and similar places. The machine would crush the tin dropped in it. Every now and then the aluminium was to be collected, weighed, paid for, and collected to be sold to recycling plants. (Gaetano Pace)

Compensation for moral damages

Now that we have made great strides forward both in our common causes and other matters relating to consumer rights, I think it is about time that we as a whole tackle the principle of moral obligation between the trader and the consumer.

It is apparent that this matter has long been neglected and the time is now ripe for our arbiters, people with responsible decisions and legislators to start thinking seriously not only about awarding damages regarding tangible complaints, but also regarding other moral anxieties such as long term inconveniences, afflictions, anguish and also finally depressions.

I have in mind people who suffer for months on end because of faulty white goods which are never changed, but continue to be inefficiently "mended" at the moral expense of the consumer.

Another example relates to tour operators, where often a tour worth hundreds of pounds is spoilt through various inadequacies. Catering deficiencies also come to mind; sometimes even a wedding reception is partly ruined through inefficiency and the victims are perhaps only rewarded for material damages without taking into account the anguish suffered by all the family.

I am sure interested readers who have the well being of the consumer at heart will contribute further ideas to this popular column so that eventually moral compensation will also be included when arbiters award damages. (Vincent Camilleri)