Firm hits out at consumer council

CONSUMER Council of Fiji (CCoF) never contacted us to get our side of the story, says Absolute Aluminium owner Sumeet Kumar.

Speaking to The Fiji Times on the media release from CCoF chief executive officer (CEO) Seema Shandil that they’ve received complaints against Absolute Aluminium, with a monetary value of $100,000, Mr Kumar said this was an act of defamation from CCoF.

“They didn’t take part of our story and they published the thing online, which really affected our business and everything. When they received a complaint, they should first get both sides of the story before going to social media,” Mr Kumar said.

He said the $100,000 that CCoF had mentioned in their publication was the total project cost, or quotation cost, and not the deposit amount, which the client had given.

“They’re working on the full amount of the quotation amount, we’ve only just received the deposit, and once work is completed than we receive full payment.

“They publish everything on social media without any interview or anything for us. This has really affected our business as they have defamed our company.”

In the media release, Ms Shandil said they have received approximately $100,000 worth of complaints against Absolute Aluminium for “deceptive practices”, particularly for “repeated instances of breaching contracts and failing to deliver services after accepting substantial payments from consumers”.

“Over the past few years, the Council has been inundated with complaints from consumers who have fallen victim to Absolute Aluminium’s deceptive practices. Despite promising quality aluminium works and accepting significant payments, the company has consistently failed to fulfill its obligations, leaving consumers in distress and financial loss,” she said.

“In the latest developments, the council has received two additional complaints against Absolute Aluminium, bringing the total monetary value of unresolved issues to approximately $100,000.

“These complaints highlight a disturbing pattern of misconduct by the company, wherein payments are accepted with no intention of completing the contracted work.”

CCoF then urged to refrain from conducting any dealings with Absolute Aluminium and its agents and must “thoroughly research and verify the reputation and track record of companies before entering into any financial transactions”.