Receipts offer consumers protection

• Source: Global Times
• [08:57 August 13 2010]
• Comments

Visitors shop for souvenirs at the Central and South America Pavilion inside the Expo Park. Photo: Global Times

By Duan Wuning

Visitors buying items from the World Expo 2010 in Shanghai need to make sure they get receipts and hang on to them, otherwise they will be unable to exchange or refund their souvenirs if the products later prove to be faulty, said the Shanghai Consumer Protection Commission Thursday.

The commission said that it has received more than 1,000 complaints from visitors over the past few months, of which over 600 were related to quality concerns with the some 1 billion yuan ($147 million) worth of products sold from officially licensed Expo stores or pavilions inside the Expo Park since the show opened.

"Some of the cases we dealt with involved visitors who forgot to get their receipts, which made resolving the problems difficult," a woman surnamed Lu, press officer for the Consumer Protection Commission, told the Global Times Thursday. "We can't guarantee that we'll be able to solve every problem we get, but visitors who have their receipts will have a better chance at getting an exchange or refund."

As of Thursday, Lu said that nearly all the complaints the commission had received had been resolved, except for a small handful of cases that were still under mediation. She added that the majority of the remaining some 400 complaints from visitors had mainly to do with poor service encountered at restaurants in the park.

Lu said that visitors who come across consumer problems at the park can dial the 962010 Expo hot line, or the 12315 consumer rights hot line to seek help with problems. Or visitors can visit four consumer complaint offices scattered around the park.