Consumers complain about abusive leasing practices

In the last few years consumers initiated 15 lawsuits against abusive practices by leasing companies, said Denis Starus, the head of the Consumer Protection Center, at a roundtable meeting themed “Consumers Choose Fair Financial Services”, which was organized by the Ministry of Economy. “Because some consumers were late on their payments for the things bought under leasing arrangements, in most cases cars, leasing companies terminated the contracts. So consumers found they couldn’t get their money back. Companies retain a fee, allegedly stipulated in the contract, but about which people are not informed. We think this is an abusive practice. For example, a company requested money for parking the vehicle during its exploitation by the customer. The latter, after paying installments for 2 years, realizes he doesn’t have enough money to pay all the other fees”, said Starus. According to him, the legislation is flawed and incomplete. On the other hand, consumers are not informed. Many of the clauses in the contract are hidden. The company agents don’t warn customers about them. Alexandru Cuzimuc, head of the Principal State Inspectorate for Market Supervision, Metrology and Consumer Protection, confirmed that some of the 1300 complaints about infringements of consumers’ rights were from people who had signed leasing contracts. “We had to engage specialists in leasing contracts to be able to answer correctly to people’s complaints. It’s hard to prove something when the consumer is not informed and signs financial documents without reading them thoroughly. I think we need to work more with consumers, state institutions and civil society organizations”, Cuzimuc said. The round table “Consumers opt for fair financial services” is part of the manifestations organized by the Ministry of Economy on the occasion of the World Consumers’ Rights Day on March 15. Consumers’ information week takes place on March 14-18. Sergiu Ciobanu, Deputy Minister of Economy, said that information and consultation meetings with consumers and companies would be organized in the capital and in the districts. In some commercial centers in Chisinau, consultancy points have been opened. Events are organized in cooperation with local authorities and consumers rights protection organizations.