Poland: the President of the OCCP on mystery shopping

Recently, Polish President of the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection (“OCCP”) has published a communiqué regarding the mystery shopping review that the President undertake at the end of 2018.

The largest so far inspection with the involvement of mystery shoppers was targeted at electronic stores. As a follow-up, the President of OCCP has initiatied the explanatory proceedings in which it is analysing the information collected by the mystery shoppers.

It follows from the communiqué that the mystery shoppers, among other things, verified aspects related to additional electronic equipment insurance. According to the President of OCCP, some electronic stores offer an “extended guarantee” which has little in common with a guarantee and in fact comprises an additionally paid insurance.

Againts this backdrop it is worth mentioning that similar issues (the offerings of so-called services contracts instead of electronic device insurance) remain in the focus of the Polish Financial Ombudsman (for more information please see our e-alert.

Mystery shopping – key information

• This tool is available from 17 April 2016 onwards.
• The objective of mystery shopping is to verify if there are any irregularities while offering products or services to consumers.
• Prior to mystery shopping review, it is required to obtain the consent of the Court of Competition and Consumer Protection.
• The mystery shopping reviews can be recorded.
• Mystery shoppers make purchase attempts, however, no agreement is concluded: they ask questions to verify the sales process and the information that is provided at the point of sale.

We will keep you informed about further developments. For more information, please get in touch with us.