Tips from the experts

Christmas gift shopping with brains

Christmas shopping: When shopping, you should check cheap offers carefully to make sure there are no hidden additional costs (symbolic photo).(Bild: Martin A. Jöchl)

Tempting offers and special promotions - just in time for the start of the pre-Christmas period, many retailers are offering attractive prices. But shopping is not always risk-free. Consumer protection experts advise caution.

Cheap products - especially those from the Internet - often come with a catch. Hidden additional costs and shipping charges can quickly drive up the price - warns the consumer protection department of the Chamber of Labor. Alarm bells should ring, especially when it comes to conspicuously cheap goods, as so-called fake stores like to make use of such bait offers. Christian Koisser, consumer protection officer at the Burgenland Chamber of Labor, therefore advises never to pay the amount in advance, but always to pay on account or by credit card. This way you are better protected if the worst comes to the worst.

In principle, we advise consumers never to pay the amount in advance, but always to pay on account or by credit card. That way, you are better protected if the worst comes to the worst.

AK-Konsumentenschützer Christian Koisser

Check online companies
It is also always important to check the details in the legal notice on the homepage. If there are any doubts about the seriousness of the online store, it is better to keep your hands off it. Institutions such as the Austrian E-Commerce Quality Mark (www.guetezeichen.at) can help you decide. The Austrian Internet Ombudsman and its warning website watchlist-internet.at can also help. And: "Christmas offers are not always the cheapest," Koisser knows from many years of experience. It is often worth checking with search engines and price comparison sites. Websites such as geizhals.at or idealo.at are useful tools for comparing festive offers.

Be careful with "Click&Collect"
You should also be careful with so-called "Click&Collect", where the desired goods are reserved online but collected in person. But there are also some pitfalls here: If the contract is concluded online or by telephone, there is a general 14-day right of withdrawal - even if the goods are collected in person. Exceptions to this are, for example, perishable goods or goods made to order. A tip from Koisser: "It's best to clarify the right of withdrawal before the contract is concluded to avoid any nasty surprises if you don't like the goods after all." Information on this can also be found at the AK-Infothek at www.geldundleben.at