A consumer affair
Recently I saw a Consumers Affairs Commission ad. It was released in December 2020, but I had never seen it before a few days ago. Messages from this ad included the fact that according to the Guyana Consumers Affairs Act, customers have the right to receive a receipt as proof of their purchase with the date and item purchased. Also, customers have a right to at least a sixmonth warranty in writing and the habit of some business owners erecting signs that they do not accept returns or grant refunds is illegal.
Seeing this ad was timely because of an experience I recently had at the Chinese-owned Convenience Supermarket on D’Urban Street. Not only do they not give customers receipts, but they are also sometimes disrespectful to the Guyanese who support their business. My intention in highlighting this is not to encourage xenophobia or racism, for I am not a person who dislikes or discriminates based on nationality or ethnicity. But I have been moved to highlight the situation because it is not the first, second or third time I have witnessed Chinese businesses disrespect Guyanese and the majority seem to be silent on this issue.
One of the first unpleasant experiences I had was in 2011 when a group of Guyanese filmmakers were shooting some short films. I was producer and assistant writer on one of the films and in my role as producer I had tasks such as buying costumes and props for the cast. I visited a Chinese store on Regent Street to purchase a tshirt and requested a receipt. This angered the business owner; he threw the t-shirt at the salesgirl who had brought it to me and told her to put it back on the shelf. All this because I had asked for a receipt for accounting purposes on the film. I left the store without the t-shirt. At the time not only was I appalled at this man’s behaviour, his disrespect for his staff by throwing the t-shirt at her, but I wondered what other abuse that young woman was enduring from that employer. It highlights another sad reality of Guyanese who must endure abuse from employers who are often paying them low wages.
Since then, because of that experience and others I have been skeptical about supporting Chinese businesses. The supermarket mentioned, I would seldom go there to pick up a few items if at the time it was inconvenient to go to the supermarkets where I usually do my shopping. So, there I was a few days ago, purchased a few items, received no receipt as usual and the bag in which the items were placed was not strong enough to hold them. That is another thing about that supermarket. A person can purchase one or twenty items, they try to pack everything in one flimsy plastic bag. I do not think it is because they care about reducing plastic waste but perhaps, because they are simply parsimonious. While it is encouragement for people to walk with their own bags, which is good for reducing plastic waste, sometimes one forgets or just goes to the supermarket by chance. So, there I was and the person packing the groceries ignored me when I asked him to double the bag because the one flimsy plastic bag could not safely hold all the items I had purchased. I asked three times until the person cashing heard me asking him and gave me the second bag. I had no kind words for the man that ignored me before I left the supermarket, and I will never shop there again.
What troubles me about such experiences where foreigners believe that they can come into a country and disrespect their citizens is that we allow it. Think about it. Can a Guyanese go into China, set up a business, verbally abuse the customers or refuse to acknowledge them? Can we go into China and set up businesses and not give people their receipts? Can we go there and say that we are not accepting returns or granting refunds?
Perhaps the reasons they are not giving customers receipts are because they are not paying the taxes, or the price customers see listed on the items are not the actual price, but they charge more. With no receipts if items are damaged, we have no proof that it was purchased from them. Whatever it is, our rights as consumers are being violated by these illegal practices, and the authorities need to investigate it for the rights and protection of Guyanese.
We are a country that welcomes everyone. Well, it seems everyone except Haitians. Nevertheless, whether it is Venezuelans, Brazilians, Cubans, Dominicans, Americans, Africans, Europeans, or Asians, they are coming here. We welcome them because Guyanese are also in other countries working, studying, and living. Many of the foreigners in our country are engaged in business. But for them to come here and believe it is okay to disrespect Guyanese because they will not face any consequences shows how divided we are as a people. If Guyanese were to retaliate and treat the foreigners who choose to disrespect us with the same disdain, we will be called abusive, xenophobic, and possibly prosecuted. I am not advocating for Guyanese to disrespect foreigners or be xenophobic, but always, it should be Guyanese first and we should stand for our rights as first class citizens of this country because it is our ancestors who bled, made sacrifices, and died for this country.
It was earlier this year when we saw a report from VICE News about corrupt practices involving Chinese businessmen in Guyana. The fact that during that report it was alleged that Guyana is largely corrupt perhaps is why some believe that they should not respect Guyanese. And we the people, why do we accept it? Why are these people so emboldened to disrespect us or engage in illegal business practices and there are no consequences for their actions?
It speaks to how we do not love ourselves as a people. How the continuation of the divide based on ethnicity, skin tone, hair texture and political affiliation is to our detriment. Our weaknesses can easily be seen and exploited by foreigners. Foreign owned businesses have probably observed that there are also Guyanese owned businesses who also do not respect their customers and engage in illegalities. Our disdain for each other seems to be more powerful than us coming together, to stand truly as ‘One Guyana’, and demand the best for ourselves, whether it be oil deals or customer service.
If we continue down the road we’re heading, Guyanese will be increasingly seen as second- and thirdclass citizens in our own country. The rich will be fine, since they will continue to rub shoulders with the ones who are exploiting our resources, enriching themselves and disrespecting us. But as for the ordinary citizens of this country, will we and our descendants inherit Guyana?