CONSUMERS in Negros Occidental are urged to be vigilant against some business establishments, mostly within malls, employing questionable marketing strategies in selling their products and services.
Lea Gonzales, provincial director of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) in Negros Occidental, said there have been numerous complaints lodged before the agency regarding such schemes.
These violate certain provisions of Republic Act 7394 or the Consumer Act of the Philippines, she added.
DTI-Negros Occidental, in an advisory, listed common selling strategies which the public should be vigilant on.
These include provision of freebies or rendering free facial service or body massage as means to attract prospective buyers and mall-goers to enter into a consumer transaction with the company.
It is also a questionable form of marketing if a sales associate or agent, sometimes a foreign-looking one, aggressively persuades or even pressures the customer in buying the product at a discounted price.
Worse, to the point of inquiring if the customer has debit or credit cards or even to the extent of asking these cards to be handed over to him.
“Products do not have price tags thus, consumers have no means of validating the cost as well as the discount given,” the agency said.
Other strategies include taking advantage of the lack of time and “condition” of the environment.
In this case, the sales associate or agent, after further persuasion, would swipe the card to charge the customer for the product being offered for sale, it added.
Gonzales said DTI-Negros Occidental is open for concerns and complaints regarding these questionable marketing schemes against establishments in the province.
They may contact the office through hotline number 434-7920, she added.