JAMAICA: Consumers Urged to Avoid Buyer’s Remorse

#Kingston, December 22, 2022 – As consumers go out to shop this Yuletide season, they are being urged to protect themselves against buyer’s remorse.

This is a feeling of regret or anxiety after a purchase is made.

Chief Executive Officer, Consumer Affairs Commission (CAC), Dolsie Allen, informed that the Consumer Protection Act (CPA) speaks to the change of mind after a purchase is made and the consumer has left the store.

“You’re not entitled to any form of redress… .  For you to just change your mind [and] there’s nothing wrong with the item, all the features are there that you would have purchased in the first place, it is not materially different at all, then it would have to be at the discretion of the vendor. It is not an entitlement,” said Mrs. Allen.

She noted that for good customer relations, a vendor may choose to do an exchange or refund.

For her part, Director of Communications, Latoya Halstead, said that if the consumer changes his/her mind while in the store, there should not be an issue handing back the item and getting a refund.

“However, if you purchase the item, step through those doors and then you decide ‘I don’t want this anymore’ or ‘I have something else that I need to buy’, guess what –

that’s on you. You made the decision to purchase an item,” Ms. Halstead said.

She further encouraged consumers to be “very conscious” of their surroundings as they go about their activities.

Contact: Shanna K. Salmon

Release: JIS