Secret raise, fake discount… Warning: Pay attention to the last 30 days!

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Lerato Khumalo

TÜKONFED President Aydın Ağaoğlu explained that he bought two 5-liter tins of olive oil a while ago and said, “I paid money to buy it. 5 liters of one of those olive oils was 700 liras. Another one was 750 lira. A five-liter early harvest stone pressed natural olive oil is not possible at this price. I know this. I paid for two cans and bought them. One of the items I bought was on the list of adulterated products announced by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry. I took the other one to the Ministry’s Istanbul Provincial Laboratory. I paid money there and left it for analysis. “We will talk when we get the results,” he said.

THE PENALTY FOR FALSE DISCOUNT IS UP TO 550 THOUSAND LIRAS

Emphasizing that just as consumers are deceived through adulteration and imitation, big branded companies also deceive in other ways, Ağaoğlu continued as follows:

“There are also hidden price increases with grammage games. They reduce the grammage of packaged foods, but the package is the same price. The consumer buys it as the same price, but does not know that it has been increased. In the Commercial Advertising and Unfair Commercial Practices Regulation, there is an article titled ‘Misleading packaging practices that create the impression that no change has been made, even though a change has been made in one of the items, length, weight, area, volume measurements and similar elements of a product offered to consumers in a way that will differentiate the unit price’. According to this article, a penalty of up to 550 thousand liras can be imposed on those who deceive consumers with secret price increases.”

PAY ATTENTION TO THE PRICE IN THE LAST 30 DAYS

Drawing attention to the false discount, Ağaoğlu said: “I really couldn’t explain this to people enough. In order to say that it is offering a discount, the company must take the lowest price at which that product was sold in the last 30 days as a basis. In other words, he sold it for 100 liras, sold it for 120 or 150 liras. It cannot apply a discount over 150 lira. You can make a discount over 100 lira. Consumers who notice this should contact the Ministry of Commerce. You go back thirty days and sell it. The lowest it sold was 100 lira. If he sells it for less than a hundred liras, he can call it a discount. For example, if it sells for 90 lira, it can be said that you gave it a discount. If there is a false discount, the person will be subject to administrative fines. “Increasing the price and then saying we made a discount is a misleading practice for the consumer and requires punishment.”

Pointing out that it is not possible for the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry and the Ministry of Commerce to track every product, Ağaoğlu said that consumers have a great responsibility in the inspection.
Stating that great convenience has been provided regarding the complaint, Ağaoğlu said, “The valuation rate will also increase in 2025, but for this year, Consumer Arbitration Committees are authorized for disputes up to 104 thousand liras. “Even for the problems experienced in mobile phones, washing machines, dishwashers and refrigerators, solutions can be sought in this way without going to court in terms of prices,” he said.