“Complaints about dishonest entrepreneurs offering clothing, footwear and leather accessories are received by UOKiK. Imaginated to Polish brands, they tempt with large promotions. However, as it turns out – we do not buy in neighborly, but from Asian sellers, mainly from China” – the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection (UOKiK) informed in a statement.
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False sellers from Asia. UOKiK gave key features
As he pointed out, such stores operate under the name, e.g. by name, surname or name of the place with the note – e.g. fashion or boutique. Sometimes it is A copy of the internet address of an existing brand, differing in one sign – e.g.. Such stores try to attract customers, e.g. great promotions, as well as a product description emphasizing the family character and many years of activity of activity or information about the liquidation of the store and the sale of the range.
“Dishonest entrepreneurs are misleading about the origin of their business and goods. Consumer interests are violated in this way, the reputation of companies under which these entities impersonate. Consumers must know what to look for to minimize the risk of loss of money and unsuccessful purchases” – said the president of UOKiK Tomasz Chróstny, cited in information.
The office also drew attention to fake online stores that encourage people looking for opportunities and buyers in a hurry often “surprisingly low” prices. However, the messages of these stores are stylistically incorrect, and the entrepreneur's data – usually incomplete. There is also a lack of information about the phrase policy or the address in one of the Asian countries is given in a very visible place. In many cases, after payment, the goods are not sent and the store's website disappears from the network – UOKiK said.
It also happens that After receiving the package, the product differs significantly from the one presented in the pictures until the entrepreneur cannot be contacted.
UOKiK warns against false sellers from Asia. He tells the victims what to do
According to the office, Such incidents should be reported to the police and to the CERT team. He also advises to Tell the bank, especially if the payment was a card, because thanks to the chargeback procedure there is a chance to recover money.
The communiqué also indicated that the store in which products are bought is also their seller – this is the so -called Dropshipping. In this case, the website is run by an intermediary and the customer buys a product directly from another entity. UOKiK indicated that the seller should be indicated on the website, along with information, for which he is responsible, and for what the broker.
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“Dishonest entrepreneurs can hide information that they work in the dropshipping model, which they are misleading their clients. Then consumers find out that they bought, for example, from the Asian entity, and not from the Polish store, only when the goods do not reach, there is disagreement with a description or simply when they want to return it. Meanwhile, when you get to know the offer of the store, they should know from the offer of the store” – said Chróstny.
The President of the Office reminded that he was conducting explanatory proceedings in which he checks the mechanisms of publication of ads on Facebook and Instagram social networking sites and on many pages of entities cooperating with Google. UOKiK verifies what the supervision over the promoted content is.
If you have trouble returning products bought from an intermediary, you can use the help of consumer spokespersons. If the broker has a registered headquarters outside Poland, but in the European Union, the appropriate contact will be European Consumer Center The office informed. He noted that Dropshipping is a legal business model, only if consumers are not misled.
