With reference to your articles about the European City Guide on March 17 and last Sunday, I am one of those misled by this advert just like John Abela Ltd. and Red October Ltd. I am the managing director of Energy Projects. We offer a service to local clients only and never had any intention to advertise ourselves abroad. I tried to cancel our order a long time ago but all European City Guide could tell us was that it is impossible to cancel.
We did send the relevant form but it was not signed. It was just stamped. My secretary had done this and showed it to me before sending it. In any case the print of the relevant text was so small it was practically impossible to read. Subsequently we received a letter asking us to make any necessary corrections regarding our particulars and sent it back.
This week I received the copies of the directory and I was surprised to see that some of our customers were misled by the European Guide. I do not want to name any of them but suffice it to say that there are ironmongers, pharmacies, local council offices, rest places for disabled, electricians, butchers, panel beaters, and lots more. Some of them don`t even have fax or e-mail. (Anthony Falzon)
Well, this is the third victim and, as I already wrote, as long as bitten advertisers continue sharing their experience we must never undermine the old "strength in numbers" philosophy as suggested by Charles Abela.
So I appeal to companies, suppliers, or individuals who genuinely feel that they were misled to write to me just like Charles Abela, Carlos Cluett, and Anthony Falzon did. We might be able to get all `bitten` parties together to consider what action can be taken.
HSBC - new terms and conditions
HSBC have sent copies of their terms and conditions relating to current and savings accounts which came into effect on April 1 to their customers. Some HSBC account holders sent me copies and, as we are focusing on our column`s terms and conditions, we might as well have a look at HSBC`s.
I do not have the space to feature them all and I will not be selective as it would not seem fair. Therefore, at this stage, I will feature the first five terms and conditions, I stress, without being selective and without any editing. In any case they give a clear picture of the stance HSBC is adopting:
Current accounts:
"1. Statements: Will be sent to account holders by post on a quarterly basis. Additional statements may be requested at a charge of 50c per statement.
"2. Interest: Credit and debit interest is calculated on a daily basis and is credited/debited to the account half yearly in March and September. Interest will be allowed/charged at a rate and on such terms and conditions as the bank shall establish from time to time. The current rates can be obtained from any of the bank`s branches.
"3. Deposits of local cheques: We treat other local bank cheques as being cleared for interest calculation purposes two working days after they have been deposited into an account (e.g. on Wednesday if paid in on a Monday). If you withdraw money which is not cleared for interest calculation purposes, you may be charged interest even though your account shows a credit balance.
"4. Nil balances: If an account has a ni1 balance for more than 30 days the bank shall have the option to close the account.
"5. Administration charges: The bank will charge an administration fee of Lm4 per quarter if the average of the combined balances of an account holder`s savings and current accounts does not exceed Lm75 over the previous quarter. Charges will be applied to the account holder`s current or savings account immediately after the end of the previous quarter. Customers with Youth, Student Scheme, Fixed Deposit or Karus accounts and customers with approved borrowing facilities will be exempt from these charges. If an account is closed within six months from the date it was opened an administration charge of Lm5 will be levied. The bank reserves the right to vary these charges, the method of calculation/application thereof and exemptions granted at its sole discretion ..."
Since HSBC took over, things have changed at what used to be Mid-Med Bank and I dare say that things will go on changing. While bearing in mind their terms and conditions in other countries, this is the thin end of the wedge. On our part as consumers we must keep ourselves informed and maximise on our right to choose.
The Malta Financial Services Centre in a press release stated that it has received various complaints from HSBC bank account holders regarding the introduction of new terms and conditions applicable to bank accounts.
"Moreover," it added, "the Centre has been requested by the media to comment on these new terms and conditions. The MFSC is displeased with the introduction of these charges and with the method of implementation.
"At the same time, the Centre would like to clarify that charges for bank services, including administration for the opening, retention and closure of bank accounts, are not regulated under the Banking Act.
"Nevertheless, the Centre has requested the Office for Fair Competition to investigate these new bank charges in accordance with the provisions of the Competition Act."
If you have any questions to ask or statements to make regarding this issue please write to me, of course, in accordance with our column`s terms and conditions. By the same token HSBC`s comments are more than welcome. This is an issue well worth discussing.
Consumer Claims Tribunal
From time to time, I feature a list of cases referred to the Consumer Claims Tribunal where a decision was made in favour of the consumer and the respective traders/suppliers refuse to honour it. I spoke about this issue with the director-general of the Consumer and Competition Division, Marcel Pizzuto, who gave me a statement (in two parts) on the Consumer Claims Tribunal:
"Section 16 of the Consumer Affairs Act provides for the setting up of two Consumer Claims Tribunals - one for Malta, the other for Gozo - depending on where the transaction to which the claim refers has taken place..
"Each tribunal is presided over by an arbiter sitting alone. Arbiters shall be appointed by the Prime Minister and must have held the warrant and practised the profession of advocate for at least five years. At present the arbiter is Dr Martin Fenech and hearings are held at the Consumer Claims Tribunal, 4, Old Mint Street Valletta.
"A tribunal has jurisdiction to hear and determine claims made by consumers against traders where the value of the claim does not exceed Lm1,500 (previously Lm500) and when the claim relates to:
(a) the purchase or hire of goods by a consumer from a trader or
(b) the provision of services by a trader to a consumer.
"It shall be lawful however for a trader to make counter-claims against a consumer regarding an action brought against him by the consumer in front of the tribunal. A tribunal shall determine the issue in dispute in any claims before it, according to the substantive merits and justice of the case and in accordance with equity.
"A tribunal may, when determining the issues in dispute in any claims or counterclaims before it, order the trader to pay to the consumer not less than Lm15 and not more than Lm100 as moral damages for any pain, distress, anxiety and inconvenience.
"Where the arbiter is satisfied that a claim presented before the Tribunal or any defence offered in respect thereof is vexatious or frivolous, he may order the defendant or the claimant as the case may be, to pay to the other party a penalty of not more than Lm50.
"An appeal shall lie from a decision of the tribunal, within 18 working days from the date of the decision, by means of an application to the Court of Appeal. An appeal shall only lie when the tribunal has acted contrary to the rules of natural justice, and such action has seriously prejudiced the right of the appellant.
"Before a consumer can submit his claim before the tribunal, he must have first lodged his claim with the Information and Client Affairs Directorate of the Consumer and Competition Division. The head office of the CCD is situated at the Office for Fair Trading, Cannon Road, St Venera while it also has a front office at 4, Old Mint Street Valletta.
The Head Office can be contacted either on Freephone 120 or on tel. 2144-6250/5. The Directorate will try to reach an amicable settlement with the trader. If this settlement is not arrived at within 15 working days of the lodging of the complaint, then the consumer can proceed to submit his claim in front of the tribunal.
"Last year the tribunal held 69 sittings and the arbiter pronounced his decision in 164 cases - 137 in favour of the consumer and 27 in favour of the trader."
Next Sunday I will be featuring the second part which will explain what consumers can do regarding cases referred to the Consumer Claims Tribunal wherein a decision was made in favour of the consumer and the respective traders/suppliers refuse to honour the decision.
All cases subject to publication
Judging by the number of cases that are positively resolved with the help of this column, I can safely state that over the years this column has evolved into a very effective tool. Many consumers deal with and solve their own consumer problems in accordance with our terms and conditions. If you wish to use this column, please read these terms and conditions and abide by them. That is the only price you pay.
These terms and conditions have evolved over the years on the basis of practical experience. They respect and safeguard the interests and rights of consumers, traders and suppliers, as well as this newspaper`s interests. However, although these are published in every column, we still have many consumers or complainants who, at their convenience, choose to ignore them. Moreover some consumers even expect me not to abide by them.
In my repeated attempts to drive the point home, from time to time, I have to refer to specific cases. I do not have the space to feature this positively concluded case but, on principle, I must make a direct reference to it and highlight the salient points.
I received a letter of complaint from Mrs Maria Sammut involving Mobilia Penza Ltd. regarding a wall unit. Here I must stress that Mobilia Penza resolved the matter, as Mrs Sammut herself put it, "to my entire satisfaction". I compliment Mobilia Penza on having delivered such "entire satisfaction" and I thank them accordingly. As I keep writing, "a well handled complaint can leave a customer with a better impression of the company than the customer would have got had the bad situation never happened in the first place".
In one of the letters to me about this case Mrs Sammut wrote: "In the meantime, I shall be grateful if you can suspend the publication of my original letter dated February 5". In response I highlighted the relevant applicable term printed on our acknowledgement card which we sent to Mrs Sammut on having received her request not to abide by the relevant condition.
She subsequently wrote, "In the meantime I have noted that after my request dated March 11 to suspend the publication of my original letter dated February 5 you highlighted to me that all letters are subject to publication. I would like to point out that Mobilia Penza Ltd. had requested suspension of the publication once again, to which I absolutely find no objection".
I do not know what I have to do to drive the point home that LETTERS, ONCE SENT, CANNOT BE WITHDRAWN AND ALL CASES ARE SUBJECT TO PUBLICATION.
This specific condition is there for the benefit of suppliers. It is based on cases we had wherein the respective consumers exploited the situation and negotiated highly attractive settlements with the supplier/trader. These consumers used to dangle the carrot of non-publication as opposed to publication of the respective correspondence.
On my part, I had to nip it in the bud by adding this condition. I can assure suppliers and traders that I will not support consumers who take advantage of such situations by, literally, extracting more compensation than they may be entitled to from bona fide suppliers/traders. In a nutshell, this was tantamount to blackmail. Moreover, as I wrote before, if and when consumers take such unfair advantage they do so at the expense of other consumers.