Rights and obligations of consumers
The best thing is to have no rules. The best thing is to keep your word; to live in a world where what you say is true. But from time to time, you can find a group of people who start to exploit another group – then comes a scramble and finally the state enters the space and dictates rules for both groups. This has gradually set up business rules - determining an adequate price, the obligation to comply with set hours of operation, ingredients, mandatory warranty, etc. But even these rules bring the expected effect only to that degree to which we want to follow them, to which we accept them as our own. A producer, who is obliged to provide information about the ingredients of a product, chooses a font which is not visible with a normal eye , every cunning fellow from both sides of the shop counter is trying to exploit the warranty period, etc.
Consumer law is primarily aimed at the weakest – it has to protect them. Then at the dominant ones – it has to force them to respect the weak. At the end, however, it depends on how seriously is the whole topic taken by the majority of the consumers who form the mainstream. Responsible consumer behaviour is good for the companies which do not manipulate and try to get along with the consumers. However, this means to accept some degree of discomfort, not to take to first product offered on the shopping rack, the cheapest product, the one which is on offer right now, etc. The cases which come to the checks, inspections, courts and sanctions are just the tip of an iceberg and will not bring about changes in consumer climate on their own. The thing is that people should think about their behaviour and behave responsibly.





