Consumer watchdogs warn of online scams as Christmas shopping peaks

With Christmas spending set to surge and online shopping now outpacing traditional store visits, the Fair Trading Commission (FTC) and the Office of Public Counsel (OPC) issued a warning for shoppers to stay alert against scams, misleading ads and risky purchases during the holiday rush.

Their warning was issued on Friday at their joint Christmas outreach at National Heroes Square, where teams guided consumers through their rights, redress options and how to avoid the season’s most common pitfalls.

Director of Consumer Protection Dava Leslie-Ward said the agencies were acting early because complaints often come in after the excitement of Christmas has faded.

“Everybody is happy and jolly and moving around,” she said, “but in January that’s when we get the complaints. After that happy feeling has fallen off and then you find the issues arising.”

She noted that while shoppers have long faced in-person scams or missed out on cheaper prices, the digital marketplace has created a whole new set of risks.

With Barbadians relying more heavily on Amazon, Temu, Shein, Instagram sellers and Facebook Marketplace, the likelihood of consumers being misled or losing money has risen significantly, making this year’s outreach especially urgent.

Public Counsel Sandra Rawlins stressed that shoppers should slow down and conduct proper checks before parting with their cash. “Before a consumer parts with his or her money, they should do diligence,” she said. Whether the purchase is a washing machine, small appliance or electronics item, “they may go online and see what the customer reviews [say] to get a feel for whether this is a machine that can do what they want it to do.”

Researching the product is only half the battle — verifying the seller is now just as critical, especially on social media, she said.

“People may have these ads up, but they may not give you enough information to know where a store is,” she cautioned. Shoppers must ensure they have a phone number, storefront information or a verifiable business location. “If something happens to the item, you need to know where you have to go.”

If a consumer believes their rights under the Consumer Guarantees Act have been breached, and the purchase was $10 000 or less, the OPC can intervene, Rawlins said: “They can call us at 535-2758 or 535-2762. We have a form that we can email to them… and once they send it back to us along with the supporting documents, we will then do an investigation.”

But she emphasised that consumers must understand how the law actually works when something goes wrong with a product. “You would first have to give the person an opportunity to repair,” she said. If it cannot be repaired “in reasonable time”, then a replacement should follow. A refund, she explained, is “really at the end of the line… it’s not like a refund is necessarily the first thing.”

Layaway issues also spike during the season, particularly when shoppers overextend themselves, said Rawlins, who warned that layaway agreements are binding. “They should be very clear on what the terms of the layaway plan are,” she said. If payments stop, “they may not be refunded all the money,” depending on the contract.

While the OPC deals with individual redress, the FTC monitors the broader marketplace, especially misleading promotions, unfair contract terms and unlawful signage.

Leslie-Ward made clear the distinction: “We are like sister agencies… [OPC] deal with individual redress. The commission is the other half… we are looking more globally.”

For the FTC, misleading ads remain an ongoing concern. The large, bold “buy one, get one” sales with unreadable fine print are a prime example. “That won’t save you,” she said, “particularly if you can’t read it because that fine print can’t effectively change the main meaning of the total ad.”

The commission has been cracking down on businesses that still display “No Exchange, No Refund” signs, which are illegal. “If you don’t remove them,” Dava Leslie-Ward said, “we can prosecute under the law.”

Friday’s outreach at National Heroes Square gave shoppers the chance to ask questions, collect educational materials and learn how to navigate the increasingly complex world of holiday shopping — before the January complaints begin again.

laurynescamilla@barbadostoday.bb