Chile Forum

As a rule merchants in Chile are all smiles when they are selling something yet is a whole other story if you try to take back merchandise, they put on they "cara de palo" (ugly face).

By merchants I mean small stores, big department stores and even banks that issue credit cards, and they have mount big lobbying efforts to keep that way.

So it was a rare victory for consumers when last year the Supreme Court ruled in favor of a lady who's credit card was stolen and even though she notified the bank of her lost, the bank try to make her liable for the purchases that were charge to her card (or at least that was my understanding), low and behold she won the case which in the states would not have been a big deal and never made to the Supreme Court, but as it turns out it was a landmark decision in Chile.

Last January I believe that Dell computers had an ad for a full blown laptop for a very low price and a whole bunch of people purchased the machines, Dell tried to back away from the deal but at the end they had to honored.

In other words consumer protection is not big in Chile but slowly but surely inroads are being made.

I, like most of you, have had lots of problems here with returning faulty products. The only things that I've learned that help is that you really just have to be rude and very explicit with them. You definitely can't be a push-over. Contacting SERNAC is a good threat.

Last year, around Christmas though, I actually bought some shoes at Ripley for my husband, and when I got them home, he didn't like them. I took them back to Ripley with the receipt and they asked why I was returning them, and I just told them that my husband didn't like the style. They said, ok, and gave me store credit. Then I bought something else there a few weeks later, similar situation, and they exchanged it just as easily as the first time. I think it probably depends on what you buy.

As we probably all know, Chileans tend to be just a bit dishonest (hope that doesn't offend anyone, but after 5 years here, I've learned that the hard way), so if you think about it from the store's perspective, they've probably had tons of people trying to return "faulty" products to the stores, that were actually not faulty or were just worn out. I now remember that I wanted to return an electronic item to Falabella, which we had paid the extended warranty for, and the lady told me exactly what I was supposed to say (I had to make the complaint in another department) so that they would give me store credit. So, the salesperson actually told me how to lie to the complaints department so that they would take the item back.

The easiest returns seem to be spoiled foods to the supermarket...even though it is a pain to have to return $3.000 worth of chicken, they seem to understand that no one wants to eat spoiled chicken.

We bought camping chairs during summer from Zodimac and on the first use they broke....before anyone makes any jokes, I am just average weight for my height, so they should have held up without issue. We walked back into the store with the problem items. Showed them to the Jefe and he issued a credit...no problem at all.

I had a similar experience in sodimac. I bought a traje impermeable. When I got it home and out of the bag the seam was split on the shoulder. I took it back and the exchanged it, sin problema. The fact that the thing lasted less than a day before it split from stem to stern, while we were out in the mussel cultivos in Chiloe, I guess is not their fault

It is important to know the chilean Ley del Consumidor http://www.senderos.cl/documentos/LeyDelConsumidor.htm
There are a government service called SERNAC (servicio nacional del consumidor) to claim in case of abuse, this service is useless, I recommend to ignore this step because they have no legal force for anything and usually they are just a bunch of lazy bureaucreats who delay the claim process.

If you are certain that your consumer rigths are violated, look for the specific articles in Ley del Consumidor fist than apply, then write a legal claim and present at Juzgado de Policia Local (municipal court) with authority in the area where the purchase was made, attached with the purchase receipt (required). The tramitation is expedite (for chilean standards) if your claim is redacted indicating precisely what articles of Ley del Consumidor was violated, if you attach the receipt and if the Juzgado has jurisdiction. This sue not requires an attorney, I obtained a quick reparatory agreement with a big company in the court, who paid no attention to my former direct claim and SERNAC, Juzgado de Policia Local direct sue is the best way

My wife recently bought me a Panasonic shaver. I used it once and it didn't shave very well, quite poorly actually.
We tried to take it back last night to Falabella in the hope of exchanging it for a new one (paying the difference ourselves) or getting our money back because it was a poor quality product that didn't do what it said on the box.

This is the basis of a converstion we had with first a lady assistant and then the floor manager:

My wife: we want to return this product..... etc...
Lady: You can't. It's been used.
My wife: We've only used it once, and it's a very poor quality machine, and we would like to change....etc
Lady: sorry, you can't . How old is your husband?
My wife: 31
Lady: Ahhh, well, that shaver is for a twenty year old. They have different facial hair.
My wife: yaaaaaaaa.
Lady: I can take you to my boss, you can talk to him if you like...
My wife: okay, let's go.

at this point I come along, and we are introduced to the boss, and the problem is explained.

My wife: ...and so we'd like to change it or have our money back.
Boss: Sorry, we can't do that, it's been opened. This particular product can't be returned. Some of the other shavers can, but this one no.
Me: Why not? It doesn't perform it's duty , it doesn't do what it says on the box.
Boss: we can send it away to be checked, to see if their is a fault.
Me: we don't want that. We want to change it or get our money back.
My wife: we have rights, we know the rules, we can contact Sernac.
Boss: (speaking to me) Maybe it's your facial hair, some men have different types of facial hair.
Me: Ahh, yaaaa, so it's my fault then?
Boss: No, I'm not saying tha-
Me: Can you show me on the box where it states what type of facial hair it is suitable for?
Silence...
Me: and the lady downstairs told us it is for a twenty year old man... can you show me where it says that on the box or in the instructions?
More silence...
My wife: (pointing to a picture on the box of a 40+ year old man shaving) Well, he doesn't look like 20 year old does he?
Boss: i'm sorry, we can't change it. We can send it away if you like to be checked?
me: So, you and your staff are inventing things, you are lying to us? Because you have no idea of what you are talking about...
Silence again...
Me: Can you show me your customer returns policy? It's not on the receipt. It must be written down somewhere?
Boss: It's not, we don't have anything written down.

And the conversation fades out into nothing and we don't get anything changed...

What's the moral of the story? Don't shop at Falabella? Don't buy Panasonic? Don't believe anything they tell you? Anyone working in any kind Chilean institution where a service is provided (shops, banks, etc) will absloutely lie to your face if they don't know the answer?

All of them, but probably not the Panasonic one.

jgb78uk wrote:My wife recently bought me a Panasonic shaver. I used it once and it didn't shave very well, quite poorly actually.
We tried to take it back last night to Falabella in the hope of exchanging it for a new one (paying the difference ourselves) or getting our money back because it was a poor quality product that didn't do what it said on the box.

This is the basis of a converstion we had with first a lady assistant and then the floor manager:

My wife: we want to return this product..... etc...
Lady: You can't. It's been used.
My wife: We've only used it once, and it's a very poor quality machine, and we would like to change....etc
Lady: sorry, you can't . How old is your husband?
My wife: 31
Lady: Ahhh, well, that shaver is for a twenty year old. They have different facial hair.
My wife: yaaaaaaaa.
Lady: I can take you to my boss, you can talk to him if you like...
My wife: okay, let's go.

at this point I come along, and we are introduced to the boss, and the problem is explained.

My wife: ...and so we'd like to change it or have our money back.
Boss: Sorry, we can't do that, it's been opened. This particular product can't be returned. Some of the other shavers can, but this one no.
Me: Why not? It doesn't perform it's duty , it doesn't do what it says on the box.
Boss: we can send it away to be checked, to see if their is a fault.
Me: we don't want that. We want to change it or get our money back.
My wife: we have rights, we know the rules, we can contact Sernac.
Boss: (speaking to me) Maybe it's your facial hair, some men have different types of facial hair.
Me: Ahh, yaaaa, so it's my fault then?
Boss: No, I'm not saying tha-
Me: Can you show me on the box where it states what type of facial hair it is suitable for?
Silence...
Me: and the lady downstairs told us it is for a twenty year old man... can you show me where it says that on the box or in the instructions?
More silence...
My wife: (pointing to a picture on the box of a 40+ year old man shaving) Well, he doesn't look like 20 year old does he?
Boss: i'm sorry, we can't change it. We can send it away if you like to be checked?
me: So, you and your staff are inventing things, you are lying to us? Because you have no idea of what you are talking about...
Silence again...
Me: Can you show me your customer returns policy? It's not on the receipt. It must be written down somewhere?
Boss: It's not, we don't have anything written down.

And the conversation fades out into nothing and we don't get anything changed...

What's the moral of the story? Don't shop at Falabella? Don't buy Panasonic? Don't believe anything they tell you? Anyone working in any kind Chilean institution where a service is provided (shops, banks, etc) will absloutely lie to your face if they don't know the answer?

All of them, but probably not the Panasonic one.

I´d like to suggest that you do actually continue insisting with them. You have to be kind of rude sometimes, but they can and will take the product back. If they don´t, follow through with your threat of contacting Sernac. Don´t let their ignorance (whether by choice or not) make the decision. They always make up whatever they can so that you can´t return the product. Bring Sernac into it, and they´ll take you seriously.

jgb78uk wrote:What's the moral of the story? Don't shop at Falabella? Don't buy Panasonic? Don't believe anything they tell you? Anyone working in any kind Chilean institution where a service is provided (shops, banks, etc) will absloutely lie to your face if they don't know the answer?

All of them, but probably not the Panasonic one.

Go again and repeat the process. Hopefully different people are working and they let you return it - hell change your story: play their game. You can make up reasons just like them! Rub some carbon on your face, mess up your hair and tell them the thing shocked you and furiously demand your money back. Of course if you won't stoop to their level I'm sure the time you spend going through the proper channels will be worth it...

I managed to return bed sheets at Casa & Ideas in Alto Las Condes last year. It was a bit of an ordeal because my spanish was a lot worse back then. It took two and half hours and they had to bring in the decorator who spoke a tiny bit of english to facilitate things. I'm sure they were hoping I'd give up after a half hour but I stuck with it and got my money back. The main issue seemed to stem from having bought the sheets with my (North American) credit card. They had to call some central office to get an authorization code for the credit card reimbursement. I'm guessing this is the procedure because there's lots of credit card fraud? Anyway, from now on if I buy something I might return, I pay cash.