The Consumers’ Foundation yesterday drew attention to the problem of businesses failing to deliver on pre-ordered products and reminded customers that they are entitled to terminate their contracts and to get refunds of twice the amount of their deposits if companies do not deliver as promised.
The consumer rights watchdog had invited a consumer who had disputes with a distributor of consumer technology products to attend its press conference.
The consumer, surnamed Wang (王), said he had ordered a Nikon D7000 digital camera at a tech gadget expo at the beginning of this month.
Wang said he paid a NT$1,000 deposit to hold his place in the pre-order line after the distributor promised that the product, which costs more than NT$41,000 without camera lens, would be delivered on Nov. 15.
However, Wang was later told that because he only purchased a camera without the lens, he would be receiving the product in a later batch of deliveries.
“I feel powerless against the company breaking its promise,” Wang said, adding that he has still not received the camera that he ordered.
Foundation chairperson Joann Su (蘇錦霞) said that similar practices have been used by telecom companies that are selling the iPhone 4.
“Even if companies don’t require that consumers pay a deposit to hold their place in the pre-order line, consumers are still not protected against other possible losses, such as not receiving the goods they ordered as they had anticipated,” she said.
Su said that many companies, in an attempt to create a buzz over new products, advertise pre-order options to attract crowds to sign up for the products, but give no information as to when the products will arrive or how many people will be able to place pre-orders.
In Wang’s case, the distributor may even be guilty of false advertising, because the products were not delivered as advertised, Su said.
The foundation said that if a deposit has been paid and the distributor does not fulfill the terms of the contract as promised, the consumer can notify the company through certified mail to deliver the goods within a certain period of time.
A pre-order refers to special offers made before a product is officially launched on the local market.
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