It seems to be a new “commemorative date.” The first week after Christmas became “Change Ticket Week”, alluding to the large number of people who come to the stores to replace the gift they received on Christmas Eve.
Wrong sizes and defective toys are some of the reasons that motivate these changes. What does the Law say and when are they obliged to deliver another product? What about online purchases?
Alejandro Gomez, coordinator of the Center for Citizen Education of the San Sebastian University, explains that consumers have rights established by law, which are accessed “buying in the established or formal trade”.
These rights they are held even if they were purchased at a sale. Not because you buy cheaper, you have fewer rights, “he says.
Legal Guarantee
Applies only for faulty products.
Consumers can ask the exchange, return or repair of a product with problems for a period of 6 months (Previously it was 3 months, but it varied with the publication of Law No. 21,398 on December 24, which modifies the Consumer Protection Law). “It is an alternative right for the consumer, who can choose between the repair of the product, the exchange for another of the same characteristics or the return of the money“details the academic.
Voluntary guarantee
The legal guarantee applies to products with origin faults. “If the product does not meet my expectations or the person who received the product as final recipient, You have to review the purchase conditions offered by the business at the time of verifying it..
If the company offered a change period without expression of cause must respect it.
This is carried out with the delivery of a change ticket “ Gomez adds. However, this “voluntary guarantee” does not replace the legal product warranty.
Is the Legal Guarantee the same as the Exchange Ticket?
No. The legal guarantee It is a right that has its origin in the law, while the exchange ticket It is a voluntary act of the company, which allows changing the product “at any event and without expression of cause” in a set time.
Once it is offered to you, it becomes a right for the consumer.
What products do not have the right to exchange and return?
The products Second-line or used, as long as the consumer has been warned prior to purchase. Eye! In products of offers or promotions, posters or tickets that say “no change and refund” are not valid.
What about Internet shopping?
As long as the company do not report otherwise, the Law grants the right of withdrawal, which it involves void the purchase or contracting of the service within 10 days from when that or this was verified or since the product was received, and in the latter case, before being used.
It is also an obligation of the company send a written confirmation of the contract. Otherwise, the term of the right of withdrawal is extended to 90 days.
The consumer in purchases made by electronic means has the same rights as in any other type of purchase, for example, to have the price reported, what is offered is respected and the same rights in terms of legal guarantee, among others.
Gifts from abroad
If the consumer carries out a transaction with a foreign company, without prejudice to the fact that The Consumer Law applies only to national purchases, there is a complaint portal www.econsumer.gov, where a consumer you can file a claim against a foreign company, which is referred to the consumer protection agency corresponding to the country of the company against which the claim is made.
The call is always to buy in the established trade and, when acquiring products abroad, it is recommended that consumers privilege those companies that have at least one representation in the country. More information in www.sernac.cl
