Thais need an independent consumer protection agency

Thailand would be heaven if the agency is established. It would be a kingdom that nobody would want to leave if consumers’ rights are protected.

 We have ombudsmen for this and that, but most of the issues at stake seem so distant for the average person. When you are overcharged for services, where do you go? Most people need to pay bills in return for the continuation of services. If the services are not necessary, they pay the bill but never again use the service. Some make the effort to file complaints with the Consumer Protection Board, which has limited manpower and takes years to settle complaints.

Before going on an overseas trip, one of my friends bought a data roaming package. Once it ran out, she thought it would be okay to briefly read and send mail. Returning to Bangkok, she found that it had cost her tens of thousands of baht. She contacted the mobile phone operator, to get the exact information on the data transmitted. The company, however, kept saying that she was charged accordingly, without telling her the exact data size. Luckily, she works in the media and the mobile phone operator agreed to cancel the bill.

One of my friends had a very bad experience after returning from a trip to Italy. There, she used her debit card to withdraw money twice. A month later, she found that her account was almost empty, with hundreds of thousands of baht having been withdrawn. She contacted the bank and found that nearly 20 withdrawals took place, via ATMs in St Petersburg, Russia. Despite knowing that she was never in St Petersburg, the bank denied responsibility. The case went to the existing Consumer Protection Board and to a TV channel. It was only then that the bank admitted it was a fraud case and agreed to return her money.

Weeks earlier, I also planned to file a complaint with the Consumer Protection Board. It surprised me when I received a notice that I’d failed to pay Bt200 for two-month water bills. For years I’d used a bank’s debit service for utility bills. One day, the water meter was turned off. I had to visit the Metropolitan Waterworks Authority (MWA) office in Min Buri, where I had to pay Bt600 for reconnection to the water supply and settle the unpaid bills. The officer told me that the bank simply stopped the debit service. And to re-connect the service, I had to pay the Bt600 fee.

I checked with my bank about what had happened. They said they would never cancel a debit service without an order from the customer. The bank book showed my account was last debited in May last year, the same time when the government waived water fees to help lower the cost of living. (I didn’t want the waiver even though I was eligible because of low water consumption. But how could I tell the government?)

On the advice of a bank officer, I had to file a new request for a debit service. I didn’t mind that, but who would shoulder the Bt600 reconnection fee and the time I had to waste in solving the issue? It was infuriating, particularly when we’re told the MWA has been acclaimed as one of the best state enterprises for years.

Private companies can also be annoying. Recently, I went to a mobile phone operator’s branch to terminate a mobile phone number. Instead of clearing the bill once and for all, the officer told me I could clear some then but would receive another bill later. Yes, that means another trip to Tesco-Lotus to settle the bill.

In an age when technological advance can facilitate an easier lifestyle, you could still be disappointed. Tired of paying bills at 7-Eleven for home Internet service, I contacted the service provider, asking for the annual pay conditions. One benefit was a 5-per cent discount, but I couldn’t change any promotions thereafter. During the paid period, I couldn’t change anything involved with the service. And when the year ended, if I wanted to opt for monthly payment, I’d have to send documents to the company. I couldn’t simply call them to request a change. In my mind was the concern that the company might not receive my documents but still charge my credit card for the annual bill? I don’t understand why a high-tech company resort to something so complicated.

I’ve learnt that the independent consumer protection agency will look into things like this, aside from things like fees levied by banks and so on. In Australia, consumers can change their power supplier if they are displeased with the service offered by the existing supplier. Here, we have to endure without choices. Dear government, please make this happen. Things like this can be more annoying than watching politicians bark at each other during no-confidence debates.