Unit 5.

What to Do Before Buying

Read and translate the text.

Consumers can have a wide variety of problems. The following section will help you avoid some of these problems and will explain how to deal with difficulties that may arise.

Generally, making large purchases on impulse is not wise. When shopping for products or services, learn as much as possible about them before buying. Careful consumers always compare prices and products before buying. This is called comparison shopping. They purchase the product only after considering other products that could also meet their needs.

For major purchases, careful shoppers go to the library and read about competing brands in consumer publications. Your librarian can point these out to you. You should also speak with your friends to get recommendations about products.

Once you have determined what product you need, you may dis­cover that it is available at more than one store in your community. Especially for important purchases, it makes good sense to buy from a store with a good reputation. Your local Better Business Bureau (BBB), listed in your telephone directory, can tell you if there have been complaints about a particular store. If you are making a pur­chase from a store that is not in your community, check with the BBB located in the same community as the seller.

Several kinds of policies may differ among stores. For some prod­ucts, there may be additional charges for delivery, installation, and service. A price that seems lower at one store may really be higher once extra charges have been added on. Also check on the store’s return policy. A very low price at a store where all sales are final may not turn out to be such a good deal if you decide that you are unhappy with the product once you have it in your home. Sometimes a shopper may even spend a little more money to purchase an item from a store with an outstanding reputation for service or the ability to deliver the item quickly and install it free of charge.

Before making a purchase, you will want to read the warranty (also known as the guarantee) carefully. Different manufacturers and stores may provide different warranty coverage on very similar products. When studying the warranty, be sure to find out what you must do and what the store or manufacturer must do if you have a problem with the product. A warranty that requires you to ship a broken product to a faraway place for repair at your expense may not be of much value to you.

If you are required to sign a contract as part of the purchase, be sure that you read and understand the entire contract and that all blanks have been filled in before you sign. If you have trouble under­standing the contract, ask the store for permission to take the con­tract to someone who can help you understand it before you sign it. You may not want to deal with a store that will not let you do this.

Finally, do not believe everything you hear from the seller. Later you will learn more about “puffing,” or seller’s talk. Just because a seller says “This is a real bargain!” does not make it true. You have to determine whether it is a bargain through careful shopping.

Advice

Things to Consider Before Making a Purchase

• Determine exactly what product or service you need.

• Compare brands. Read about various brands and ask friends for recommendations.

• Compare stores. Check out a store’s reputation. Find out if there are extra charges. Learn about the store’s policy regarding exchanges or refunds.

• Read and compare warranties.

• Read and understand the contract.

• Determine the total purchase price.

Find the equivalents of the following words and expressions in the text.

Oсторожный покупатель, соответствовать запросам, торговые марки конкурентов, крупные покупки, определить, какой товар вам нужен, быть в наличии, дополнительные издержки, доставить неисправный товар за свой счет, гарантийные обязательства, заполнить пропуски, удачная покупка.

Answer the questions:

1. What problems can consumers have?

2. Why isn’t it wise to make large purchases on impulse?

3. Where can you get the information about the product you need before buying it?

4. How should you choose the shop?

5. What extra charges can be added on the price?

6. How do return policies differ in different stores?

7. What should you take into consideration when studying the warranty?

8. What can you do if you have to sign the contract, but you don’t understand some points? Why can’t you sign it if there are still some blanks?

9. Can we believe everything we hear from the seller?

Read and translate the dialogue:

Narrator: The Magistrate describes a serious case he had recently, in which it was difficult to decide what to do.

Magistrate: We had one forgery case… rather a pathetic one of um… of a woman who um… stole somebody else’s post office savings book, and took… the money. It was a difficult case…

Interviewer: She went to the post office…

Magistrate: Went to the post office and signed in somebody else’s name and got the money and was caught. Now she was a woman with several children and very considerable domestic problems, and I would say an inadequate housewife. But on the other hand she had taken this savings book from an old age pensioner. We put her on probation. She was already seriously in debt everywhere. She couldn’t possibly pay a fine. If we had sent her to prison, for example, it would have meant that all the children would have to be looked after by somebody else…

Interviewer: I see.

Magistrate: And the evidence was that within her lights – within her limits – she was a good mother and tried her best…

Interviewer: Her best with children…

Magistrate: Her best wasn’t quite good enough.

Answer the questions:

1. What exactly had the woman done? Give details?

2. What do you learn about the woman herself?

3. He could have sent her to prison or fined her. Did he?

4. What finally happened to the woman?

5. What were the reasons for this?

Retell the dialogue in indirect speech.

Match the words on the left with the correct definition on the right:

Charge	a guarantee or promise made by a seller or manufacturer concerning the quality or performance of goods offered for sale.
on impulse	an exaggerated statement as to the desirability of a product or service.
comparison shopping	spontaneously.
Warranty	compare prices and products before buying.
Puffing	formal accusation of having committed a criminal offence
Store	on sale.
Available	shop.

Role–play:

Situation:

1. You are a careful consumer but you friend is not. You both are going to buy a washing machine and he/she doesn’t want to spend a lot of time on it. Try to persuade him/her.

2. You failed to convince your friend to make some necessary steps before buying the washing machine. Now he/she is facing some problems. Discuss them.