A new ‘Consumer Scoreboard’ shows that Maltese consumers are theleast satisfied among their European peers when it comes to the handlingof complaints.
The latest spring scoreboard, published by the European Commission yesterday to benchmark progress on addressing consumer rights and empowerment, shows progress in the overall 2011 results compared to 2010. Yet the island scores dismally low when it comes to the handling of complaints.
Only 38 per cent of Maltese consumers seem to be satisfied after launching a complaint – 20 percentage points lower than the EU average.
According to a detailed analysis of the scoreboard, which is based on surveys and Eurostat data, 70 per cent of Maltese consumers said they trust the authorities to uphold their consumer rights, even more than they trust consumer organisations, but trust in retailers is much lower, at just 55 per cent, 10 percentage points fewer than theEU average.
Among the scoreboard’s main components – which include quality of regulation, effectiveness of resolving disputes and handling complaints, consumer trust and safety of products – Malta scores worst in terms of complaint handling.
The majority of those who bothered to formally complain were not satisfied with the redress they received, if any.
Another 12 per cent said they felt that they had a reason to complain but did not, while 45 per cent said they took no further action after receiving anunsatisfactory reply.
On the other hand, Malta compares well to the EU average for product safety, including the number of inspections made by the authorities to verify the quality of merchandise put on the market.
The most consumer-friendly countries for 2011 were Luxembourg, the UK, Denmark and Ireland.
On an EU level, the scoreboard shows that while e-commerce continued to grow last year, it remained largely domestic despite the clear potential for choice and savingsacross borders.
Malta is an exception as it has the second largest online shopping community in the EU compared with population size. Luxembourg has the most cross-border online shoppers.
According to the Commission, efforts must be stepped up to exploit the full benefits of a truly digital market.
The scoreboard also demonstrates that many EU consumers still do not know their full rights, particularly when it comes to guarantees, cooling-off periods and what to do when they receive goods they never ordered.