The Tribune

IN EARLIER days, I dreamed of solving problems. Not the big ones like ending world famine or creating world peace.

Everyday problems like my friend had when the installation of a storm-rated door went wrong on a house he looks after and he couldn’t get the company that installed it to come back, re-do it and get it right, though heaven knows he tried for months. Basically, their tone was ‘You bought the door, we installed it, we’re done, out.’

But it wasn’t installed right, my friend said, so how can you say you are done, meaning hurricane come, house could go.

My friend is an especially kind, thoughtful and polite person, but he is also resourceful. So he picked up the phone and dialed a familiar number. Mine.

“Surely there is a consumer protection agency or something like that in The Bahamas, don’t you think?” he asked, hoping that if I did not know for sure, I would stop what I was doing, if not then, soon, find out and get back to him.

“I think I heard of something,” I said. Thus launched the search for the equivalent of a ‘Help Me Howard’ or ‘NBC Responds,’ some compassionate and well-organised individual or agency dedicated to resolving consumer injustices and complaints.

Today, one year later, that same friend Whatsapped me. “Guess what, you won’t believe this. I just got the full payment for the installation that went wrong.”

It took a year, but it worked. And how it worked is worth sharing because it not only sheds light on a government programme that is hands-on and produces direct results that make a difference, it restores faith in the fact that as a consumer, you do have rights.

In fact, you have more rights than you know. You have so many rights that your rights trump the store’s policy. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves, a bit of background is in order.

Long ago, in 2006, the Consumer Protection Commission (CPC) was mandated by an Act of Parliament. It apparently languished under the radar, averaging two complaints a month until last year when everything changed. A tiny staff got a boost. A few more bodies were added. A former police detective took over investigations and now heads that department.

The CPC team conducted a media blitz, hitting popular radio and TV shows. They’ve done pop-ups at the Mall at Marathon, Southwest Plaza and Harbour Bay. They host a monthly radio show, established a Facebook page and a 24-hour hotline. Now, they are receiving far more complaints – and averaging a 75 to 85 percent success rate.

With Consumer Rights Day coming up this month, merchants might want to take a quick refresher course.

Says someone off the record, “Merchants think their policies are gold. Uh-uh, their policies do not trump the law.” That includes warranty rights as stated on the product itself, not established by the store, especially important in the case of electronics.

A product warranty trickles down to the end user, the consumer who purchases it wherever that consumer is. It also means that if a product is defective or faulty in any way and you choose to return it, you also have the right to choose how to receive your refund – and that includes cash. You do not have to accept the offer of an exchange or store credit. You have the right to cash.

“Our goal is not to put merchants out of business or make it hard on them,” says a spokesman. “Our aim is to bring resolution.”

Good to know and to know that the CPC falls under the Ministry of Finance which I chided last week for the nearly all-male economic outlook roundtable.

Response to that was overwhelming. Thank you to all who reached out to me personally to say thank you, including men, and to those who shared the column. I’m only sorry I left out a few really important names like the amazing Alexandra Maillis-Lynch, who transformed Ranfurly Homes for Children while running her catering business, NAD President and CEO Vernice Walkine, Sysco president Karen Casey, founder of Historic Charles Towne Betsy Dingman and dozens more.

As for that Consumer Protection Commission hotline, it’s 357-9798. You’ll probably get Datus Farrington on the phone. And if you do, please tell him I hope we meet one day. I’m glad he was there to help my friend and stuck with the investigation all that time. It’s comforting to know that when so much goes wrong, there’s someone there to make it right.

THE TRAGEDY IT TAKES TO TAKE TRAFFIC SAFETY SERIOUSLY

IN FEBRUARY, a visitor was killed in an all-terrain vehicle accident. The woman who was driving the ATV when it rolled over was charged with the death of her passenger.

I am not trying to disparage the company that imported these ATVs or any of the large and small operators. They are only doing what the law allows them to do which many safety experts would say is a stretch when it comes to road safety. In most places, including the US, these four-wheel machines are absolutely forbidden on paved roads. That’s why they are called off-road vehicles.

Yet here we hand them out readily, inviting strangers to drive on the streets in between heavy equipment, truck cabs and cargo containers, pickup trucks, jitney buses and thousands of cars. Not only are they weaving in and out of traffic – or stopping it altogether if there is a group on a tour – they are driving on what most of the drivers would call the wrong side of the road. We drive on the left, Americans who comprise most of the visitors who are renting the four-wheelers, drive on the right. If something unexpected threatens, a car makes a sudden turn in front or passes too close or a dog or elderly person darts across a busy street, the driver unfamiliar with left hand reactions is likely to react instinctively and look or jerk the vehicle the wrong way to dodge hitting something. Add to that the possibility that whoever is at the wheel has stopped for a drink or two and thinks a wheelie may be in order and you’ve got the makings of a tragedy that would be a headline in some stranger’s home town.

In several countries in the Caribbean, you must have a motorcycle license to rent even the smallest motorbike. In Mexico, for instance, you have to be at least 21, have a valid motorcycle driver’s licence and a year’s driving experience. Here we say, ‘You wanna do this? Hop on.’

We talk about road safety, as we should. And then we turn our back to ensure the visitor has a rockin’ good time, except for that poor man who didn’t live to remember his good time in The Bahamas.