Over 700 written complaints were submitted to the Cyprus Consumers Association during the year, the President of the Association, Marios Drousiotis, told KYPE, while “telephone and oral complaints are much more ». For comparison purposes, approximately 350 written complaints were submitted in 2021.
Responding to questions from the KYPE, Mr. Drousiotis stated that the increase in the submission of complaints is not due to the increase in violations, but to the scarcity of the consumer's money and his awareness, which leads him to react. “The education of the consumer, combined with the accuracy and tightness of money, worked in favor of the consumer, in my opinion,” he noted.
Of the Christmas market move, Mr. Drousiotis said “we are pleased,” noting that the only complaints were about the gift exchange. “Before Christmas we issued an announcement and in our advice we emphasized to make sure if an exchange can be made, by what day and if the store accepts exchanges.” He added that the Association received several complaints about stores not issuing refunds or the store not making changes. “By law, there is no obligation for the store to accept exchanges, unless it declares it from the beginning,” he underlined.
Regarding the prices, he said that the meats had increased by 20-25%, however this was offset in some degree from the prices of fruits and vegetables, whose prices had fallen. “At Christmas we used to buy field cucumbers for 60-80 cents and greenhouse cucumbers for less than 50 cents. This never happened again. And tomatoes were almost half the price of previous years and holiday seasons,” he said. In general, the Christmas table was about 10% more expensive than last year, he noted.
