An RA citizen applied to Iravaban.net, saying he was willing to make a purchase from iCentre.am and Mynotebook stores. He read on iCentre.am website that buying iPhone6 applies a discount of 10% when presenting the Discount card of iCentre.am (the citizen also made a screenshot of this fact on iCentre.am official website through the button “Print Screen”).
When he went to the store on 50 Nalbandyan st. and informed about his intention to make the purchase through money transfer, presenting the discount card, the employer answered that the discount would not apply in case of money transfer.
The citizen claimed that there had been no differentiation on the website in terms of the purchase made through money transfer or in cash, but the employee was claiming the contrary. As a result the citizen did not buy anything and left the store, afterwards the above-mentioned clause was changed on the website (see the second image).
So, as of 14:58 iCentre.am website stated the following: “10% discount when presenting the discount card”, and now it states the following: “10% discount in case if in-cash purchase”. iCentr.am store refused to give any comments on this post.
The same citizen tried to make a purchase from Mynotebook.am store. When he informed about his willingness to make the purchase through money transfer, he was told that in that case he would have to pay 10% more. The consumer claimed that there was nothing like that mentioned on their website, and the employee of the store replied that this was a condition set by the store. The director of Mynotebook.am store Zhora Yeganyan said that those are the conditions set by the store and that when making a money transfer or buying through installments, the price goes up for 10%. Nevertheless, on the contrary to the statements of the director, the website of the store clearly shows that there are no differentiated costs for iPhone 6 for in-cash, transfer and credit purchases, but a single price is specified (see the third image).
10 % has an interesting implication. So, while making an in-cash purchase the citizen might not be provided with a CCM ticket, and in case of giving the CCM ticket the latter might just mention the price on it and not the name of the item, while through making a money transfer an invoice is provided which clearly mentions the name of the item. In this case the store should first of all have a lawfully acquired and registered iPhone6 phone, as well as you`ll have to pay the taxes set for iPhone6.
Gayane Sahakyan, Press Secretary to the President of the State Commission on the Protection of Economic Competition in the Republic of Armenia, states that the RA law on the Protection of Economic Competition specifically states that any activity of the entrepreneur which can mislead the consumer about the item or service it offers, is surely considered as a manifestation of dishonest competition.
“Similar complaints are multiple when the entrepreneur initially offers something, but the consumer going to the store and willing to use their services, fins out that the conditions vary. We have had a couple of dozens of such cases”, said Mrs. Sahakyan, adding that after the publishing of this article the SCPEC will take it as a basis of a research. “We do take media publications as a basis of research”.
Iravaban.net will be very much consistent in this case and will present to its followers the results of the journalistic investigation soon.
