Consumer responsibilities

Rights and responsibilities go hand in hand. To use a right, you must know your duty.

A responsible consumer:

• keeps updating their knowledge of consumer laws;
• is honest, and pays for everything they buy;
• surveys the market, and compares brands, features and prices;
• chooses freely, according to their own needs;
• reads all the information on labels and brochures;
• buys products with standard marks;
• keeps receipts and documents, as proof if they need to complain.

For services (insurance, credit cards, deposits): read and understand all the terms, liabilities and charges, and ask when something is not clear.

Know the national and international consumer organisations, and the benefits of joining them.

For example, without the bill, it is hard to prove that a faulty mixer was bought from that shop. Rights come with responsibilities.