In the first six months of this year, the Institution of Ombudsman for Consumer Protection in Bosnia and Herzegovina received more than 600 consumer complaints, which mainly relate to utility and telecommunication services as well as consumer goods services.
These three sectors account for about 90 percent of complaints in equal proportions, Saša Marić, the ombudsman for consumer protection in Bosnia and Herzegovina, said in an interview with Fena.
As he stated, the remaining ten percent of complaints refer to the tourism sector (mainly airline tickets or hotel arrangements), financial sector (banks).
When asked if citizens complain about prices and “fake” discounts, that is, promotions, Marić replied that the number of such complaints is less than one percent of the total received.
The number of such complaints has been in a slight decline over the last few years because, in addition to complaints, as the ombudsman says, the Institution also receives comments from consumers who point out that, unlike in previous years, lately, as a rule, it happens to them that when there is a price difference shelf/checkout, traders usually apply a cheaper price to the consumer and apologize for the resulting omissions.
“Since the Institution of the Ombudsman has for the fourth year in cooperation with the media carried out a campaign to spread consumer awareness and choose reliable retailers, it is assumed that retailers also notice the effects of retaining consumers with a correct and benevolent approach,” Matić points out.
With regard to complaints about the quality of goods, the ombudsman for consumer protection points out that complaints vary, from “valid” where there is poor quality in expensive products, but also those complaints where consumers complain about the quality of products that were purchased below any market price, where have themselves agreed to certain compromises, thinking that they will do better (buying branded mobile phones at significantly cheaper prices intended for markets outside Europe).
Marić also referred to shrinkflation and skimpflation, terms that mean a reduction in product weight with the same or higher prices, i.e. reducing the quality of the product, while maintaining the price.
Regarding complaints related to shrinkflation and skimpflation, consumers in BiH sent less than 20 complaints (about 1 percent). In the case of shrink deflation, the complaints refer to findings of reduced weight of products that have been used for years, and in the case of skimpflation, they refer to the telecommunications and tourism sectors (air transport and reduction of supply within the prices of air tickets), notes the ombudsman.
Both terms have existed, he adds, since people have been trading, for millennia, but they come and go in different periods of crisis. In the last couple of years, due to all the well-known global pandemics and crises, manufacturers and traders have started to use them again in the absence of supply, and in the scenario of increased demand.
“As long as the new weights and product declarations are displayed on the packaging, both terms are legal and legally permitted,” emphasizes Marić.
He also notes that if consumers notice that certain products have different weights than declared, they have the right to complain to the Ombudsman Institution for Consumer Protection, as well as to entity inspections.
At the same time, he points out that according to the findings of inspections, as well as according to the prescribed standards of legal and by-laws, product declarations where a change (reduction) in weight or composition of the product has been observed, are visibly highlighted without hidden statements.
The Ombudsman Institution for Consumer Protection in BiH, in the previous year 2023, received a record 1,400 complaints, Fena writes.
