As part of its campaign to protect consumers across different sectors of the Nigerian economy, the Consumer Protection Council has engaged goods and services providers on the enforcement of warranty and guarantee on their products and services.
At a stakeholders meeting in Lagos, the Director General of the council, Mrs. Dupe Atoki, explained that warranty is the right of every consumer that have purchased goods and services.
“Warranty is an assurance from a manufacturer confirming the quality of the product with promise that there will be a refund, replacement or repair if a problem occurs within a stated period,” she added.
According to the CPC DG, when a consumer is denied such right, he is expected to report the issue to the council’s zonal or liaison offices across the six geo-political zones in the country.
She observed that several consumers had, over time, been shortchanged by manufacturers and distributors who failed to live up to implied or specified guarantee and warranty for the products and services they offered.
“In other climes, particularly in advanced nations, the concept of guarantee and warranty is taken for granted because manufacturers in those countries do not only strive to produce according to specifications, but also make after-sales service an integral part of their marketing strategy. Businesses in such climes have clearly articulated policies on return, repair, replacement or refund of money for products, which do not meet the expectation of consumers,” she explained.
Atoki noted with regret that manufacturers and distributors had not only short-changed Nigerian consumers over time by their failure to honour their products or services’ implied guarantee or warranty, but had also abused consumer rights with ouster clauses, such as “no refund of money after payment,” and “goods received in good condition cannot be returned” on their receipts.
The CPC boss stated that “worse still is the fact that even multinational corporations that adhere strictly to the tenets of implied or specified guarantee and warranty in other countries, come up with all sorts of devices in Nigeria to renege on same”.
While describing the situation as unacceptable, she advised businesses operating in the country to emulate their counterparts in other climes where “the concept of guarantee and warranty is taken for granted because manufacturers in those countries do not only strive to produce according to specifications, but also make after sales service an integral part of their marketing strategy.”
Atoki insisted that for abuse of consumer rights to be drastically contained in Nigeria, “businesses must as a basic minimum, adhere to the tenets of guarantee and warranty”.
