We have been encountering the effects of globalism and free market economy processes which began in the second half of the 20th century in various phenomena in both micro- and macroeconomics. One of these phenomena is the birth and development of the “consumer” concept.
Almost all components of commerce have been consumer-oriented and in search for different strategies. Governments in local level and organizations such as the European Union, in general, have consulted the customer concept and intervened with various laws and standards.
In Turkey, this matter is regulated according to the Act No. 4077 on Consumer Production dated 23 February 1995. Later, this law is replaced by the Act No. 6502 on Consumer Production dated 7 November 2013.
In addition to these acts, various regulations such as Warranty Regulations and After-Sales Services Regulation helped shape the body of current law.
BAGIDER, which offers its valuable ideas to the industry since 13 March 2015, conducts activities to raise customer awareness. One of BAGIDER’s main aims is to make sure that both mothers and babies are offered healthy and safe-to-use products. The surveillance of the practices developed for the aforementioned healthy and safe-to-use products is our most important area of activity.
The matters that all parties are expected to know can be listed as below.
• Consumer rights are the regulations of all processes resulted by dissatisfaction on the part of the customer by a product or a service due to inadequate performance.
• It is obligatory to issue a certificate of warranty for the products listed in the Warranty Regulations.
• The guarantee term starts when the consumer receives the product and lasts two years later unless specified otherwise in the module of the Regulations.
• If sold attached, it is obligatory for the customer to present the certificate of warranty in order to benefit from it. Invoices and/or sales slips do not replace the certificate of warranty.
• A misuse occurs when a consumer does not use the product as instructed in the publicities and user manual. Malfunctions due to misuse void the warranty.
• Defective products are goods that do not meet the product specifications as agreed by both parties during the delivery.
In addition to that, goods that do not meet the specifications stated on its label, introductory and user guide, official website, or advertisements; that do not conform to the specifications declared by the seller or the qualities detected in its technical arrangement; that do not do the duties of its equivalent products; that decrease the benefits expected by the customer are considered to be defective products as well.
• Repair time depends on the product and defined as 20 business days except for cars and motorcycles.
In case there are no service points nearby; the period starts when the seller, dealer, agency, representation office, or manufacturer is notified. The customer can report a failure via telephone, a fax, an e-mail, a registered letter with return receipt, or a similar way. The onus will be on the customer to prove the notification.
• Vendors have to render service throughout the lifetime of the product. The lifetimes are separately defined for each product in the After-Sales Service Regulations.
• Some of the required baby product standards are as follows;
TS EN 1888:2012 for strollers, TS EN 14988-1:2014+A1:2013-06 for high chairs, ECE R44-04 for safe car seats, TS EN 1273 for baby-walkers.
• 175 Consumer Hotline can be consulted on consumer rights.
• If any problem occurs, your addressee should be the authorized service representatives, not retailers. Warranties are also issued by the manufacturer or importers who are affiliated with the authorized services.
As BAGIDER, we are working to make sure that babies and their mothers are offered products that conform to quality and safety standards.
In order to be able to protect their own rights, customers also need to know the application procedures and responsible authorities. Without hesitation, to accelerate the process and maximize the benefit, manufacturer, retailer, and consumers should consider each other as parts of a system rather than only different parties and act in cooperation.