Clipping of news on Brazilian Culture, Law and Citizenship
11/17/2016
This article was translated by an automatic translation system, and was therefore not reviewed by people.
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Willian Dias / Divulgação
Casas Bahia announces the rate in lowercase letters
Most major electronics and home appliance stores do not clearly expose expenses to purchase a product over time. This is the conclusion of a study by consumer association Proteste, which visited stores and sites of these networks to assess compliance with a 2008 National Monetary Council (CMN) standard, which says that Total Cost Effectiveness (CET) needs to be explicit For the customer.
The indicator, which appears in percentage value in the simulation of installments, facilitates the comparison of financing by summarizing costs related to interest, credit analysis rates, insurance and other charges.
"The information causes the customer not to be misled when calculating the value of the product," says Marcos Augusto Vazão, professor of Consumer Law at the Autonomous Law School (FADISP). But he explains that the dice is beaten by many at the time of shopping.
Proteste visited Casas Bahia, Fast Shop, Ponto Frio, Ricardo Eletro and the Carrefour and Walmart hypermarkets. Also accessed the sites of Americanas.com, Shoptime and Submarino and analyzed advertising materials. At the visits, the association checked whether the products contained information about the CET, whether shopkeepers were aware of the standard and whether they knew how to calculate it.
In the consultation, only the Walmart supermarket chain and the Americanas.com, Carrefour, Shoptime and Submarino sites clearly and legibly report the CET on all products that can be parceled out. On the other hand, the physical stores of Ponto Frio and Casas Bahia divulge the rate, but in lower case letters. The Fast Shop highlights the financial burden in annual percentages, without making it clear that they refer to the CET, while Carrefour's physical stores only disclose branded card fees.
Officials and shopkeepers did not know what the CET was when they were questioned by Protest. As for the advertising inserts, only the Walmart brochure shows the CET in the parceling offers of the products.
In the assessment of the lawyer and technician of Protest Weberth Costa, it is not reasonable that the stores fail to report this information. "When you do not have access to the CET, the consumer is not sure the costs of what he is hiring and can not make comparisons," he says.
Expert in Consumer Law, attorney Carlos Alberto Leite says that many only realize the full value of the purchase when the bill arrives. "The most commonly used argument is that the seller took advantage of the lack of consumer knowledge," he says. However, the decisions in court consider that the conditions of the installments were accepted when the first payment was made. "In this case, we only have to ask for clarification on the amount charged," explains Márcia Ventosa, from Finocchio & Ustra Sociedade de Advogados.
In search of the best price, analyst Gabriela Bernardino compares financing conditions and says she has never been surprised by a different charge than the one agreed on the purchase: "I always look for options without interest."
Professor at the Law School of São Bernardo do Campo (FDSBC), Bianca Richter says that she has already had to set up enforcement agencies because of the lack of information on purchases. "Because these companies look after your reputation, the response is often faster," he says.
Source: Today in DIa
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This article was translated by an automatic translation system, and was therefore not reviewed by people.