Don't get fooled by the... vacuum cleaner. Salespeople are targeting seniors

According to Mrs. Joanna, who contacted our editorial office the day after the transaction, on Thursday, June 26, a woman knocked on her mother's door with an offer to sell a vacuum cleaner with a mop function. As is usually the case in such situations, the equipment was presented in superlatives and perhaps many of the features it has will be great for cleaning, except that... an identical one is available online for a much lower price than the seller offered.

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– My mother is disabled. The woman who knocked on her door with an offer convinced my mother to sign a sales contract for the purchase of a vacuum cleaner that was supposedly worth 3,000 złoty, which immediately aroused my suspicions – recounted the senior's daughter, who found out about everything after the fact.

As she added, the woman offering the vacuum cleaner took all the data needed to conclude a credit agreement from her mother. Such an agreement was most likely concluded (the agreement document shows the amount of PLN 320 - as paid in cash and PLN 2,720, which remains to be paid). The document contains the Tax Identification Number, name and address of the company.

- Please, make this case public to warn others and prevent similar cases. I hope that this will help someone else avoid buying a "miracle vacuum cleaner" for a considerable sum - added Ms. Joanna.

We checked and the same equipment as the one the senior citizen agreed to buy can be purchased online (for example on Allegro) for much lower prices, such as PLN 799 or even PLN 640.

The case is not lost

Although door-to-door salesmen with vacuum cleaners or other equipment and the whole system of door-to-door sales may seem like an anachronism to many of us, it turns out that this method of sales still works and is doing well, and more and more naive customers fall into the trap of such offers. This is confirmed by Krzysztof Drabik, the municipal consumer advocate operating at the City Office in Przemyśl, who intervenes in similar cases many times.

– Salespeople knocking on doors most often ask their customers to sign a loan application, and the senior citizen who decided to buy a vacuum cleaner probably signed one. However, it is not the case that if a signature has been placed on the document, the case is lost. A contract concluded outside the premises, in this case at the customer's home, can be withdrawn from – he says.

And he emphasizes that such situations are still a common occurrence. - People need to be more prudent. I have been appealing for this for decades, but despite this, there are still cases where customers, tempted by the offer presented, decide to buy and sign a contract. A similar thing applies to the presentations that are still organized - adds K. Drabik.

When we let a salesman into our home, we do so at our own risk.

Off-premises selling, e.g. at a customer's home, is legal but subject to certain regulations intended to protect consumers.

– The situation described by the senior’s daughter does not have...

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