Since Wednesday Belizeans have been in a “pan temper” over what they claim was false advertising by fast talking Colombian salesmen at the Global Discovery Trade-Show. Here at 7NEWS, we heard numerous product complaints, but the loudest came from consumers who bought frying pans which they say didn’t work as was advertised. Customers claim they were defrauded and a few even made a police report on the grounds of deception. Well the show has moved from Belize City to Orange Walk but the owners returned to the city today to clear things up. They say it was all one big mix-up.
Customer,
“I believe that he faked us.”
This morning an angry customer confronted the owners of VAFIPONCE for selling him – what he calls fraudulent frying pans.
Customer,
“If you look at this here and you look at this, are you listening, well that is why we are paying for quality. This is a fake one, this is real.”
Geraldo Garcia Flores, Vafiponce
“This is not the way how we work.”
Customer,
“I understand what you are saying how you work. How you work is that you tell me this is the one I am selling you but then you give me this one and I buy it and that is what you did. You should apologize.”
Geraldo Garcia Flores,
“Yes of course.”
But Geraldo Garcia Flores – the PR Officer says it was all one big mix-up.
Geraldo Garcia Flores,
“The language is the barrier for him, that’s all because he only learnt the small words to explain to the people, that’s all that happened. It is a confusion.”
A confusion which the company called the media out to the princess this morning to clear up. The same salesman, who they claim is to blame, fried an egg in both the standard pan – here on your left – and an egg in an elite pan – on your right.
Geraldo Garcia Flores,
“Both of them are the same frying pan. There is no difference, the only difference is that some people liked the heavy model and some people prefer the lighter one. That is all, but the work of the frying pans are the same.”
[Salesman demonstrating use of two frying pans.”
Geraldo Garcia Flores,
“This is the thinner one, this is the lighter one and as you can see right here directly, all the middle here is the same, there is no difference. The only difference is the weight.”
Point taken but that still left many questions.
Keith Swift,
How can you make a mistake like that?
Geraldo Garcia Flores,
“Yes because he is not the salesman all the time. He is new in this business. We have fifteen years around Latin America, around Central America and all the Caribbean islands and we sell in French, in English, and in Spanish.”
Keith Swift,
So you’re blaming the chef? You’re saying he is responsible for what happened?
Geraldo Garcia Flores,
“The responsibility is the company, absolutely, because the mistake is on us. It is not him because we didn’t get the proper salesman, maybe that but it is not his fault, it is the fault of the company of course.”
Kendra Griffith, News 5
“What is the price difference between the two products?”
Geraldo Garcia Flores,
“They have no difference because the purpose is the same.”
Keith Swift,
Customers believe that you guys lied to them, do you accept that you defrauded them?
Geraldo Garcia Flores,
“That’s not the purpose of our company. We have all the payments. The government checked all of our products before we came and we paid all the duties, all the taxes. We don’t bring here bad stuff to sell.”
Well we’re not sure about. This morning Jaclyn Woods went for a refund on four of the five products she bought. She too feels tricked.
Jaclyn Woods, Customer
“Well I returned one of the pumps, the sewage pumps and it really looked good the way they performed and the way they show it and explained to you how it worked but when you went and tried it where you needed to do it, it just comes out.”
Keith Swift,
How much did you spend on it?
Jaclyn Woods,
“$140. It is not a matter of the money, it is a matter that they tell you something that is not so and I think people do get upset about that.”
The company says about 100 sets of the frying pans were sold and only about 10% of them were returned. As we mentioned, the trade show has moved to Orange Walk and thereafter goes to Belmopan. The company representatives say that anyone interested in exchanging their product or seeking a refund can simply visit their show in Orange Walk.
