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Issue 129, Published 1 July 2009
Happenings
On 27 June 2009, CASE and the Singapore Vehicle Traders Association (SVTA) held a media conference to announce the launch of the CaseTrust-SVTA joint accreditation scheme for the motoring industry. About 40 motor companies turned up for the launch. The accreditation will officially start from 1 July 2009. For the first batch of the accreditation, 39 car companies had been accredited. This is about 5% of the total number of car vendors in the whole industry. We look forward to accrediting more motorcar companies in the future.
Media reporting of the event also available at here or here or here
Wants to be informed of CASE’s latest events? Care to update yourself of the latest consumer related news? Wait no more! Be a fan of CASE on Facebook now! Facebook is a popular social networking site and this is the best way to be involved in CASE’s events and latest happenings. Search for CASE using the following keywords “Consumers Association of Singapore”. You can also access our fan face here
The second issue of CASE’s quarterly magazine, The Consumer, would be out in a week’s time. In this latest issue, you can expect to see many articles on travel tips, from travelling smart to travelling within a tight budget. To subscribe to the magazine for just $12 per year (total 4 issues), drop us a note at marketing@case.org.sg with your name and address and we will contact you shortly.
During CASE’s Annual General Meeting held on 27 June 2009, 13 new members have been elected and a total of 6 members were co-opted into the Central Committee. Mr Yeo Guat Kwang, Mr Lim Biow Chuan and Dr Ang Peng Hwa have been re-elected as President and Vice-Presidents respectively. For more information on the new Central Committee, please refer to CASE’s media release at here.
Upcoming...
CASE’s Executive Director, Mr Seah Seng Choon would be giving a lunchtime talk on consumer protection. Details available below:
Date:
Friday, 17 July 2009
For more details and to register, please click here Consumer Alert! CASE issued an advisory on Chevalier Don Associates, a timeshare related firm on 26 June 2009.
It has came to CASE’s knowledge that Chevalier Don Associates has informed consumers of an “ONLY authorized official agent warranted to assist [them] in all [their] off-load/terminations/cessations and recoveries of monies from all memberships and/or membership servicing companies”.
CASE News & CASE in the news
CASE and the Singapore Environment Council (SEC) conducted a joint survey on
green labels from mid February to early March 2009. The objective of the
survey is to find out if there are manufacturers misusing the Green Label by
displaying the Green Label on products which actually did not get SEC’s
approval and whether the Green Label certification is correctly printed on
products that have been awarded the Singapore Green Label.
There has been much finger-pointing for escalating motor premiums. In response, CASE has suggested doing away with third-party claims, in favour of a 'no-fault regime', which exists in one form or another in countries like New Zealand, Canada and the United States. In a no-fault system, motorists will make claims against their own insurer in an accident, whether they are at fault or not. This removes disputes and theoretically reduces claims costs and, eventually, premiums. To see
the related news reports, please click
here and
here.
A consumer complained recently to Lianhe Wanbao (report dated 13 June) that she was charged 30 cents for a cup of ice. According to the report, the consumer ordered a cup of hot milo, and as the milo was too hot to be drunk, the consumer requested for a cup of ice to cool it. In a situation like this, CASE is of the view that the consumer has the right to accept or reject the offer of 30 cents for a glass of ice. As such, the consumer would have to make the decision to proceed or not to proceed with the purchase after having known the price.
Having said the above, the vendor could have
offered to cool the drink for the customer when he complained that the drink
was too hot for consumption or the vendor could have offered the glass of ice
free of charge as a matter of good business practice of generating goodwill
among its customers. Charging for the glass of ice signals to customers that
the vendor is not consumer friendly.
Other FOCUS Summing up important consumer news for the past weeks
From 1 July onwards, the household electricity tariff will go up by 6.93 per cent or 1.25 cents per kilo watt hour (kWh). The increase was due largely to higher average fuel oil prices from April to June, which hit S$76.24 per barrel. It was also reported that the tariff is calculated based on a new formula which kicks in next month. Under the revised formula, the electricity tariff for the next quarter will be based on the average fuel oil prices in the preceding three months instead of the fuel oil price in the first month of the previous quarter. For more information, please read here and here. International News
In Taiwan, it was revealed in a random survey that vegetarian products actually contained real meat. Out of the 31 vegetarian food samples surveyed, 17 of them contained traces of real meat. It was reported that the Taiwan authorities will continue to keep a close lookout for such products. To find out more about this issue, please see here. Buyer Beware Know what you invest in! This issue, we bring you a real case study on gold. A consumer purchased 100grams of grade 999.9 gold for $5,000 through an agent. In the agreement, it was stated that the consumer would be given monthly rebate of $150 each month for 3 months. The consumer received the first 2 months rebate amounting to $300, but did not receive the last rebate sum. The vendor told the consumer to surrender his original agreement and the 100gram of gold before they would give him $5150. As the vendor is not providing immediate cash to goods exchange, the consumer did not feel safe to hand over the gold and the agreement to the business. By so doing, the consumer could have avoided a loss of $4700 if the vendor did not keep to his words. CONSUMER TIPS þ Know what you are investing in. Read the terms and conditions carefully before signing any contract. þ Clarify if in doubt. þ Put all verbal promises into writing. þ If promises are too good to be true, it probably is. Consumers should exercise prudence when coming across seemingly good deals. þ Buy from credible retailers – such as CaseTrust accredited businesses. Our new weekly Buyer Beware column (Chinese edition) is now available on My Paper. Look out for the publication every Monday!
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