REPORTS against justices of the peace and commissioners of oath charging clients for their services topped complaints received by the Consumer Council of Fiji office in Labasa this year.
This was revealed by Senivesi Rasoni, the council representative at the Media Watch panel discussion yesterday.
She told participants during her presentation that even lawyers practising as commissioners of oath should not be charging fees for their services.
Ms Rasoni told participants a lawyer could only charge for a fee if they were practising as legal practitioners.
“The office had also received a lot of complaints regarding defective electronic goods and we advise consumers to ensure that all goods purchased are properly examined before any purchase,” she said.
“However, if consumers feel they have been wronged, they should not hesitate to call our office for assistance.
“This year the office has also been dealing with issues of tenancy where tenants are not given a written agreement before they enter into the agreement or else landlords fail to issue receipts to tenants after they pay their rent.”
Ms Rasoni told participants landlords could be fined $1000 if they failed to provide tenants with a rent agreement or invoice upon payment of rent as was stipulated under Section 55 of the Commerce Commercial Decree.
“Our office has also been dealing with cases of lay-by transactions where customers entering into this agreement need to have a signed agreement with the seller of the terms of sales,” she said.
“Customers still enter our office out of dissatisfaction for services provided in eateries and restaurants. I would like to stress to members of the public they have every right to lodge their complaints with the council if they are not lucky with the services they receive in these premises.”
