14.03.2021 16:50
(Akt. 14.03.2021 18:17)
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According to the Chamber of Labor, the money for the masks should be refunded.
© APA / HANS KLAUS TECHT
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Hygiene Austria does not want to take back masks that were bought more than 30 days ago and invokes the right to exchange. According to the AK expert, wrongly because there is a warranty claim and you should get the money back.
In the scandal surrounding the relabeling of Chinese FFP2 masks at Hygiene Austria, Palmer and Hygiene Austria refused to take back masks, according to a report by the ORF consumer magazine “help”. A customer bought Hygiene Austria masks for more than 500 euros from Palmers branches for her sick son. When she wanted to return the masks to Palmers, this was refused. According to an AK expert, the company would have to reimburse the money.
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Hygiene Austria is a joint venture between Lenzing and Palmers, Lenzing has withdrawn its managers from management in the wake of the scandal.
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Hygiene Austria: 30-day exchange right
In the Palmers branch, the return of the masks had been rejected with reference to the 30-day exchange right that had already expired. However, this has nothing to do with the right to exchange, explains Gabriele Zgubic, head of the consumer protection department of the Vienna Chamber of Labor, in the ORF consumer magazine on Ö1 radio, “help”, on Saturday. Consumers have the right to a warranty: It regulates the retailer’s liability for any product defects that were already present at the time of purchase.
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“We see here that there are warranty claims because the label of origin” made in Austria “is an essential product characteristic, because that is exactly what the consumer wanted, that was important to her. And if this essential product characteristic is not fulfilled, there is a defect and then you have the rights – in this case essentially an exchange first, i.e. the right to an exchange, if that is not possible, the contract is reversed, i.e. the money back, “said Zgubic.
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Web shop customers can claim money back
This also applies to customers who have bought directly from the Hygiene Austria web shop. According to consumer advocates, they too have the right to get their money back, no matter how long ago it was bought. In order to claim the guarantee, the invoice is required. Whether the masks are still in their original packaging or whether they have been used does not matter, according to Chamber of Labor lawyer Zgubic. As part of a collective intervention, the Chamber of Labor now wants to find a solution for customers at Palmers and Hygiene Austria. If this remains unsuccessful, one will go the way to judgment.
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For FPÖ boss Norbert Hofer, this approach by Palmers is “out of the question” and a “moral picture of business in the environment of the powerful in this country”. It is addressed to Chancellor Sebastian Kurz (ÖVP): “The Federal Chancellor, to whose team those responsible for the two companies maintain family relationships, has to speak a word of power here.” “Hygiene Austria” sold the masks in their own online shops and Palmers branches for up to five euros each. “It is really the last resort that these masks are not taken back. This company policy must come to an end,” said the FPÖ boss.
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FFP2 masks made in China
After searches by the Economic and Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (WKStA) on suspicion of organized undeclared work and serious commercial fraud, Hygiene Austria admitted that it had bought some of its FFP2 masks in China. The allegations of illegal work and fraud were rejected. The Chinese masks are said to have been EU-certified by a Swiss and a Hungarian company, relabeled by Hygiene Austria and sold with the note “Made in Austria”.
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