• What to do when my scooter breaks? – asks a preschooler. How to safely invest money? – a high-school student wonders.
• To find answers, use books for children and youth available at UOKiK website (only in Polish).
• For the Children’s Day, we also prepared a report on controlling toys – check the things to pay attention to when making a purchase.

Tomorrow is the day of the youngest consumers, i.e. the Children’s Day. So far, their parents buy their gifts. Before turning 13 children can only make small purchases, e.g. pay for a roll or a notebook. When they buy e.g. an expensive game, the parents can cancel such a transaction. Teenagers between 13 and 18 have more independence – they can spend their pocket money, but expensive purchases such as laptop still require a parent’s consent. 

– Although younger consumers are still not completely independent, it is very important for them to start learning about their rights as soon as possible. A complaint of a broken toy, paying attention at prices in shops, ability to cancel purchases made online. It is important children understand such everyday life situations, and see how to solve problems. It gives them a chance of becoming aware consumers – says Marek Niechciał, the President of the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection.

Education at all levels

UOKiK together with European Consumer Centre takes care of the education for the youngest. In 2018, the financial support from UOKiK caused creation of two publications for children and youth. Both were prepared by Aquila Association. They can be downloaded in electronic version from UOKiK website (they are available only in Polish language).

• “Come, I’ll tell you a story” – is a colourful booklet, which can be read to preschoolers. The attractive, rhymed form tells of the basic consumer notions and rights. Thanks to the rhymed conversations between Jasio and dad, that will learn who a consumer is, how to make a complaint of a defective purchase or how to buy online. The booklet contains a few warnings , e.g. “do not buy during presentations, there are many frauds there,” of which Jasio’s grandfather leaned.
• “I consciously enter the financial market” – is a guide for youth. It teaches teenagers of the basic notions from the world of finance. They will also learn how to safely borrow money, invest without a loss, and what to pay attention to with insurance agreements.

Are toys safe?

The Trade Inspectorate, on UOKiK’s instruction, systematically checks the safety and marking of toys that can be bought in shops. We have the results from Q1. The inspectors controlled 580 batches of toys from 82 entrepreneurs from 8 regions. They challenged 28.3 pct. of the checked products. His is 2.4 percentage points more than a year before. This time, the most reservations were related to toys for babies and bullet toys. The most common problems with quality include: weak stitching in plush toys, small elements in toys for the youngest children and unreliable knots in e.g. swings. In terms of marking, the employees of TI usually challenged the lack of data allowing to reach the manufacturer or importer.

In the recent time, the Trade Inspectorate checked for the first time electric toys for hazardous substances. The control was a part of the international project Joint Action 2016 co-financed by the European Union and coordinated by PROSAFE organisation. 15 European countries participated in it. In Poland, the control included 17 toys, such as electric toy cars, or musical instruments. Experts from a specialised Italian laboratory found that 11 of them exceeded the acceptable concentrations of lead and cadmium, which poses a threat to health and the natural environment. UOKiK started administrative proceedings with regard to the challenged toys, it also plans to notify of it all member states via the EU system for exchange of information on hazardous products – RAPEX.

What to pay attention to when purchasing toys?

• A gift for a child aged 0-3 cannot have small parts. A young child could put them in their mouth and choke.
• Check the toy for sharp edges, spikes, or protruding elements.
• Check strings and ropes e.g. in swings – if they are robust, and the knots are not undone.
• Doll prams, folded chairs, ironing boards, etc. must be secured against a sudden folding and pinching a child’s fingers.
• In toys for children below 3, the ropes can be maximum 22 cm long.
• The more complex toys, e.g. bikes, swings, guns, must have a manual in Polish. Notice the warnings indicated there.
• Make sure the toys are marked with CE sign. This is a declaration from the manufacturer that the product meets the safety requirements.

For more tips for parents, go to UOKiK’s guidebook. A hazardous toy can be reported to Trade Inspectorate or Market Supervision Department at UOKiK.

Helpline for consumers:

Phone 801 440 220 or 22 290 89 16 – consumer helpline
E-mail: porady@dlakonsumentow.pl
Consumer Ombudsmen – in your City or district
Regional Consumer Centres – Dlakonsumenta.pl
Regional Trade Inspectorates