Opinion – Maria Inês Dolci: Passion for the customer must be expressed in facts

The preference of 64% of consumers for online shopping, determined by a survey by NZN Intelligence, is yet another argument to renew and turn into law the draft update of the CDC (Consumer Defense Code), prepared 10 years ago by the commission of jurists chaired by Minister Herman Benjamin, of the STJ (Superior Court of Justice).

It is not possible that the favorite form of trade in Brazil continues without specific rules due to the negligence or lack of interest of the legislators. The law to combat over-indebtedness, one of the items addressed by the commission of jurists in 2012, only came into force last year.

Celebrated on September 15th, Customer Day provoked vows of eternal love. It is natural for this to happen, because those who buy keep the economy, from agriculture and extractivism to services, passing through industry. But, as in the novels, the proclaimed love does not always exist in fact.

A simple example is the faulty standardization, which makes it difficult to buy clothes and shoes over the internet. Even when there is a table that relates clothing size to body measurements (eg, men’s T-shirt M, chest 114 cm), it is difficult for laypeople to know exactly how to make these measurements.

In addition, many people fail to take advantage of promotions, with much more affordable prices, for fear that the store will close its doors without delivering the purchased product. They end up opting for the most well-known trade networks.

There’s another problem: the product photography doesn’t always match what we get at the building’s concierge. And some offers have gotchas – such as having to pay to reserve seats on air travel, if this choice is made before check-in. (confirmation of presence on the flight).

Parodying the writer Euclides da Cunha, the Brazilian consumer is, above all, strong. Most of them have a salary or income that does not match the cost of the basic food basket, and they have little clear information for their purchases in virtual stores.

In times of low income, those who have a bank balance are harassed daily to open their wallets and make a Pix. It’s emails, instant messages and robocall that assure us how wrong we are for not buying certain products and services.

Especially in businesses involving electronic devices, the right to information, one of the foundations of the CDC, is solemnly ignored. Not to mention that technological advances travel at a snail’s pace to cities further away from capital cities, as is the case with 5G. Finally, the customer appreciates the affection of the memory, but expects much more from the suppliers.