Disinfection or gloves, can a business charge you extra for?
Consumer associations have detected some illegal practices with regard to charging for Disinfection or gloves
In this last week a car repair shop charged the customer an extra for disinfecting the interior of the vehicle with ozone, although in reality the customer had gone to have the battery changed. A dental clinic did the same with a patient: he added to the invoice the modest price of 60 euros claiming that he had to disinfect the room between visits.
These extras on the invoice have been called "covid rate" and are cases that some users have reported to consumer organizations. "In some cases, the collection of expenses or added services associated with the pandemic has been detected," they point out from the Association of Consumers and Users (OCU).
It has happened in specific businesses, such as hair salons, repair shops, and dental clinics. None have been reported in hospitality or commerce, for example. In the case of the aforementioned hairdresser, the user was charged the cost of the gloves and the cost of the hydroalcoholic gel.
ABUSIVE
The Consumer Law allows charging additional services to the client as long as these expenses are provided, duly justified and the consumer is notified in advance.
In other words, if you go to the hairdresser for highlights, the business owner must notify you that he will charge you for the gloves and the gel before starting the treatment . Second, they cannot charge the user for a spray of disinfecting gel for what a whole bottle is worth.
In these cases, OCU says, "it is abusive." Also that they charge you for the hygiene of a consultation, because the law says that an entrepreneur cannot transfer to the consumer obligations that are his own, typical of his business.
Cleaning a premises, for example, is the business of the employer and can not be attributed to the consumer or customer, and less in a differentiated way on the invoice. "In a workshop they cannot charge the customer the cost of ozone cleaning to the car when it has not requested it," they point out.
Yes, you could do it by raising the prices, but not marking it on the invoice as a separate expense, specifically. "There is freedom of prices, so the most logical thing is that, if you want, you raise them, and since the client decides if they are interested or not," they point out.
Information provided by https://www.elmundo.es