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In Protecting Consumer Rights!
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Israel Consumer Council Test Yourself: Are you a smart consumer?Do you know how to stand up for your rights against businesses? How well versed are you in consumer protection laws? Are you aware of your consumer rights or are you an easy target in the consumer market who buys everything that’s for sale?
 The Damage from Removal of Price Control on Cottage Cheese: Over 760 Million ShekelsThe Consumer Council has recently examined the cost to consumers of the removal of price control over cottage cheese. The investigation shows that the price of cottage cheese rose by between 30% and 40%, while the prices for products that remained under price control rose by only 10%  The National Consumer Pastime / Adv. Ehud PelegIf the personal pastime of Shufersal’s CEO is to get consumers to spend money, the national pastime of consumers needs to be the comparing of prices.”  The Consumer Council is proud to present: "Consumerism at a Click""Consumerism at a Click". The simplest and easiest way to examine the legal right to cancel a deal. Israel Consumer Council empowers consumers through an innovative application that allows them to examine their legal right to cancel a deal while receiving practical tools to put their right into action.  "Consumerism at a Click" in a CartoonThis cartoon is our publication for our new service for consumers, That was launched in the event of WCRD. It was published in the main Israeli Newspaper In the same page describing the visit of President Obama  The Israel Consumer Council's Activities for World Consumer Rights Day 2013ICC's Activities for World Consumer Rights Day 2013 focuses on 6 principal channels  The Consumer Council Patrol Project, for Price ComparisonsFrom now, all citizens in Israel will be able to obtain – at no cost – information on a shopping basket of 40 products, from 150 points of sale throughout the country. Adv. Ehud Peleg, Consumer Council CEO: “This is part of the Consumer Council’s campaign against unreasonable profit margins in the food industry, and our fight – together with consumers – against the cost of living.”  Winners of the "Loser? Not me!" Competition were announcedHundreds of children have participated in the "loser? Not me!" competition. The competition took place as part of the awareness campaign, “Only Losers Pay and Pay”. Children were asked to send a picture and a slogan convincing why they are smart consumers. View the 6 winning pictures and slogans.  Consumer Complaints Report 2012: Over 38 thousand complaints files were openedOf the many inquiries received by the Council, 38,310 complaint files were opened in 2012. This is an increase of 11.4% over the number of complaints in 2011. 80% of the complaints were found to be justified. The residents of which town complained the most? From where were the least complaints received?  Open your E.A.R.S. / Adv. Ehud PelegA well-known issue in electioneering is the question of whether one markets a political candidate in the same way that one markets a bottle of Coca-Cola. One thing is clear – the voter’s decision-making process should include the same stages in a political choice as in a consumer choice. The question is – does he apply them, or does he make his choice through a partial process that omits certain stages?  The Israel Consumer Council assisted consumers in preparing 314 law suitsAssisting consumers in preparing law suits for the Small Claims Courts is part of the Israel Consumer Council’s project to promote increased civil enforcement. The project, which is being run with the backing and funding of the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Labor, was first implemented by the Consumer Council on a partial basis from January 2012, and since November 2012 has been implemented fully  The Council calls for dairy products to be placed under price control againin light of recent increases in the price of food products. Also calls for the cancellation of VAT on price-controlled dairy products.  In spite of the new regulations: kiosks and minimarkets are not posting signs indicating products subject to price control“The obligation to post such signs is intended to prevent price gouging and to ensure that consumers can compare prices and choose the less expensive, price-controlled, items in preference to more expensive alternatives”  “Only losers pay and pay” – Television awareness campaign for childrenThe Consumer Council, in conjunction with the Children’s Channel, has launched an informative campaign for children under the slogan, “Only losers pay and pay”. The aim of the campaign is to increase awareness among children of consumer rights and of the appropriate considerations when buying something. The publicity campaign includes a video clip with the Children’s Channel stars, and prize winning activities.  Following a Consumer Council initiative - consumers to pay less for groceriesAs a result of recommendations from the Consumer Council to the Kedmi Committee, regulations recently came into force requiring businesses selling foods under price control to post signs near the shelves for those products, giving the list of such products and their prices. Consumer Council CEO: From now on, consumers will have more power to reduce the cost of their purchases.  The Change that We Need / Adv. Ehud PelegThe various committees that were set up following last summer’s protests, have unfortunately demonstrated that the governmental bodies responsible for protecting the public when it comes to the cost of living, have not bothered to determine whether there was any problem, while conducting themselves as though it weren’t important anyway.  “The Government should also show determination in implementing steps for the benefit of consumers”CEO of the ICC, said in response to the economic measures decided upon by the Government, that the Government could ease the economic burden of its austerity measures, if it were to immediately carry out complementary consumer measures.
.  Consumer Council CEO: “The limit on characters in cellular text messages should be removed.”A survey conducted by the ICC shows that 70% of consumers are not aware that a text message (SMS) that exceeds 70 characters is charged for twice. The total sum from this double charging brings 140 million NIS into the coffers of the cell phone companies.  The ICC prevented approval of a compromise agreement that disadvantages consumers.The ICC represented by the Clinic for Class Action Suits at the Interdisciplinary Center*, objected to approval of the compromise arrangement, arguing that the agreement does not provide suitable compensation to HOT** customers who were allegedly harmed by the company’s conduct. Consumer Council: The Kedmi Committee Report has to include Short Term SolutionsThe Council warned the Committee examining the cost of living in the food market that its recommendations would only lead to solutions in the long term, and recommended that the report also include solutions that would meet the "next meal test  The Consumer Council is helping consumers cancel purchases of lottery subscriptionsEvery year, the Israel Consumer Council receives dozens of complaints against private companies selling subscriptions for group participation in lotteries run by "Mifal Hapayis" and "the Council for Regulations of Sports Betting in Israel".  Dozens of complaints regarding the supply of refrigerators and the lack of forms that have prevented Israelis from receiving their refrigeratorsConsumer Council CEO: “The harm to consumers taking part in the program needs to be minimized.”  Kadima MK proposes to help olim (new immigrants) in small claimsMinisterial C'tee set to debate new bill that allows volunteers to help new immigrants, poorer citizens.  Want to Protect your Money? Avoid Mindset Errors / Dr. Tal RotmanWhy do certain consumers agree to purchase a garment that isn’t the right size, only because it’s on sale, while other go thirsty throughout a concert, simply because they refuse to pay an exorbitant price for a bottle of soda? The answer lies in the human brain. Introducing mental accounting – but remember, it often defies logic.  four questions for the modern slave / E. AvrielThe people of Israel sang in unison on Friday night, tunefully or otherwise, We were slaves to Pharaoh in Egypt and the Lord freed us from Egypt with a ighty hand." Some find the words sung over thousands of years moving. Some just go through the motions, finding the celebration of our emancipation rather embarrassing after all that time.  The Israel Consumer Council, in a sharp critique of a statement by the Governor of the Bank of Israel:Consumer Council CEO: How can one claim that the abolition of checking account fees, which are less than two percent of the banks’ revenues, would endanger the stability of the banks Playing Hide and Seek / Ehud Peleg70% of respondents to a survey, conducted for the Consumer Council, were unable to determine in which of two banks it would be better to maintain a checking account.The theory of intelligent consumerism advocates obtaining information, comparing alternatives, bargaining over price, and making intelligent choices.  minimizing losses caused by airline failuresYear 2012 began with the failure of two airlines: Spanair, and Malev. As a result of their collapse, tens of thousands of passengers were left without ights and many of them were also left without their money. the Council has assembled some guidelines to help minimize the losses to the traveling public, should an airline cease operations.  The Consumer Council calls for elimination of the “Charge-Credit” system in the cell phone marketCell phone companies offer "charge-credit payment plans", which tie the consumer into long term contracts with them. The Consumer Council proposes an amendment to the law, to ensure that prices quoted for cellular phones and similar items are final, and not dependent on the level of use of the company’s services.  Cost of Living / Ehud PelegMany within the business world, would prefer to see the influence of last summer’s protests dissipate. This is perhaps the best proof of their success and vitality. It offers a lesson to all those who have belittled them and doubted their power - that without consumers there can be no producers.  The Council’s position: –" Indication of Prices on an Electronic Display"The Knesset approved a proposed amendment to the Consumer Protection Law. Under the proposal, stores with a floor area greater than 100 square, would be allowed to display product prices by means of electronic display units on their shelves, rather than by means of price tags or labels on the products themselves | About Us The Israel Consumer Council is the largest consumer organization in Israel. It is a statutory, non-profit corporation which works to defend consumers and protect their rights, by handling complaints, seeking solutions... | |||||||||
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