Beware of 'Black Friday'! - This year, the Consumer Rights Protection Center received 1,878 complaints about online purchases 0 8

She noted that complaints about online stores are mainly related to undelivered goods, unprovided services, and cases of fraud. "Complaints about online purchases account for about half of all inquiries received by the Consumer Rights Protection Center," added Liepina.

The director of the Consumer Rights Protection Center emphasized that in the lead-up to "Black Friday," the center will monitor both regular and online stores. At the same time, the Consumer Rights Protection Center is launching a campaign titled "The Internet is not a fairy tale. Recognize the tricks!" within which consumers are encouraged to report misleading content and share their recommendations.

Liepina reported that from November 4 of last year to January 15 of this year, the Consumer Rights Protection Center monitored 18 largest online stores selling household appliances, cosmetics, children's products, and toys. The results showed that 44% of online stores offer misleading discounts and use other tricks.

She added that during this period, 54% of online stores did not participate in any campaigns or offer discounts at all, and among those merchants who did announce discounts, in 96% of cases (23,896 episodes), consumers were misled by offering fictitious discounts during sales periods.

Thus, the Consumer Rights Protection Center concluded that in online stores, prices for goods are often artificially inflated before announcing discounts, the discounts themselves are not calculated from the lowest price in 30 days, the periods of discount validity are not clearly defined, and inaccurate information about the quality and origin of goods is published.

The director of the Consumer Rights Protection Center added that due to the violations identified during the specified period, the center initiated 32 cases: for 30 cases, the principle of "first consult" was applied, while two cases are still under consideration.

The number of complaints about services and goods in the digital environment continues to grow. "The Consumer Rights Protection Center uses various tools developed using artificial intelligence that track price changes, the application of discounts, and the quality of goods. Thanks to this, the resources of the Consumer Rights Protection Center are expanding, and oversight becomes significantly easier," noted Liepina.

The Consumer Rights Protection Center urges merchants to honestly indicate prices and discounts on goods and to avoid misleading statements in advertising.