One area that is common to all consumers is the many visits to the various supermarket branches.
Consumer Day, which falls this month, is an opportunity to examine what injustices shoppers encounter when visiting food chains - and it turns out that there are quite a few of them.
The rising cost of living in Israel hurts first and foremost the consumer audience, who are forced to pay more for the same products and services, and deal with businesses that try to make a profit, sometimes in any way, at the expense of consumers.
According to the Consumer Council, the most common complaints are delays in deliveries, completion of missing products in much more expensive products, poor quality of vegetables and fruits, lack of ordering and billing for missing products, cold products arriving without ice and maintaining temperature, and leaving products at the door uncoordinated with the consumer .
According to the Consumer Protection Law, food chains are prohibited from misleading consumers regarding the quality, nature, quantity and type of food product, the date of production or the expiration date, and more.
If a consumer receives a faulty or defective product - food with mold, for example - it is a return failure.
In this case, the consumer is entitled to receive a replacement product with similar features, or to get his money back.
Please note that under the Consumer Protection Act and its regulations, food products have been exempted from the right to cancel a transaction, when it is a proper food product that the buyer has regretted and wishes to return.
How is the price?
Dairy products in the supermarket, illustration, photo: Yehoshua Yosef
There is an obligation to present a full price on the products: it is not possible to show a price on a bottle, and add a deposit or refrigeration fee to the cash register.
It is also mandatory to present a price for each product in the business.
For bulk products, ie vegetables, fruits, dairy products and unpackaged bread - the price must appear on the sign on the shelf.
If there is a difference between the price displayed on the product and the one that appeared at the checkout, the binding price is the one that was displayed on the product, even if the price at the checkout is higher.
If they refused your request to refund you the difference in price - it may be a ground for a claim for compensation without proof of damage of up to NIS 10,000.
One of the main problems that consumers complain about is the return of bottles to food chains, which in many cases refuse to accept them.
The Deposit Law regulates the recycling of glass, tin and plastic beverage containers with a volume greater than 100 ml to five liters, in exchange for a deposit, and does not include milk containers and its products. The container can be returned to any business, as long as the business sells the manufacturer's tools Or the importer of the returned beverage container, provided that it is up to 50 containers per person per day, and of course - only in cases where a deposit fee is charged for the containers. Also, a business with a floor area of less than 28 square meters does not have to accept empty beverage containers In the business itself.
Online orders have become very popular since the beginning of the Corona period, however as mentioned, many complaints deal with the delivery times, which extend beyond the set hours.
Why are you eligible in cases of lateness?
In case a delivery is compatible and two hours have passed beyond the waiting time - you will probably be surprised to hear that the consumer is entitled to compensation without proof of damage in the amount of NIS 300.
In the event that a delivery date is matched and three hours have elapsed beyond the waiting time, the consumer is entitled to compensation without proof of damage in the amount of NIS 600.
The Consumer Council calls on consumers to continue to complain against any violation of their rights, including in the area of food.
These may be small amounts, but they add up to thousands of shekels a year.
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