The Vietnam Competition and Consumer Authority - VCCA (Ministry of Industry and Trade) has just issued some recommendations on safe consumption during COVID-19 - Safety in online shopping.

The Vietnam Competition and Consumer Authority - VCCA said that complaints and reports of violations of consumer rights in e-commerce are one of the contents that this agency regularly and continuously receives. Accordingly, some of the frequently complained behaviors are:

Consumer transaction information is exploited by a third party to impersonate delivery, specifically: Consumers order goods on an e-commerce platform but the order is canceled for unknown reasons, then a third party contacts to deliver the goods that the consumer ordered on the platform. The complaint content shows that some items have problems with quality, origin, and transaction documents. However, when consumers contact the floor to complain, it is not resolved because the transaction is not performed by the floor.

Consumers cannot buy goods at the advertised price: In some promotional programs, after successfully ordering goods at the promotional price, consumers are informed that the promotional goods are out of stock and are asked to buy goods at a non-promotional price.

Selling counterfeit goods, used goods, goods of unknown origin, infringing intellectual property rights. Refusing, prolonging the time to resolve complaints.

Some notes for consumers

Given the trend of frequent and daily fraud on the Internet environment, in order to raise awareness and protect their own rights when participating in e-commerce transactions, consumers need to pay attention to a number of issues, specifically as follows:

Check the accuracy and level of compliance with e-commerce laws of e-commerce websites: Before making a transaction, consumers should determine the accuracy and level of compliance with the law of e-commerce websites by checking whether the website has completed the notification or registration procedures with the Department of E-commerce & Digital Economy (Ministry of Industry and Trade).

For websites that have completed the procedures, the corresponding icon will appear on the website's homepage as shown below:

Consumers also need to note that there are currently some fake websites that only place the above icon on the website but have not actually completed the procedures at the Ministry of Industry and Trade. Consumers can check the authenticity in one of two ways:

Click on the above icons. If the information is correct, the system will lead to the confirmation information page of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, which provides complete information about the enterprise that owns and operates the corresponding website.

Directly access the Ministry of Industry and Trade's system at: http://online.gov.vn/, enter the website domain name to search for information on whether the notification/registration has been made or not.

Be careful with comments, reviews, and ratings from users: Currently, there are a number of technical methods that can interfere with the quantity and content of comments, reviews, and ratings for products and sellers on e-commerce websites. Therefore, consumers should not completely trust these comments and reviews, unless they clearly determine the accuracy of the information.

Proactively send feedback on transaction quality: After making a transaction, consumers should take the time to provide accurate information and comments on the goods and services provided by the seller. This information is very valuable for other buyers to refer to, and at the same time, helps spread the spirit of community in the online shopping environment.

In case they realize their rights have been violated, consumers should: Share information about the incident so that relatives, friends, and colleagues know and proactively prevent it. Reflect and complain to the state management agency on consumer rights protection to receive advice and guidance on how to protect their rights.