The Malta Competition and Consumer Affairs Authority announced the winners of the third edition of Premju Servizz bi Tbissima 2017. This year the competition focused on five main categories of sellers.
The category Electronic products and household goods was won by Scan, while Forestals and Homemate placed second and third respectively.
Centro Moda won the Fashion and Beauty category. In this category Kiabi and New Look both placed second with equal votes, and the third place was awarded to Zara.
The winner of the Supermarket and Mini Market category was Smart Supermarket followed by Pama in second place and PAVI in third place.
The category of Travel was won by Brittania Tours, while Rocs Travel and Hamilton Travel placed second and third respectively.
Smart.com.mt won the category Online Local Sellers while scanmalta.com and xusmalta.com placed second. The third place was awarded to the online selling website www.maltasupermarket.com.
A special prize was awarded to Centro Moda for receiving the most number of votes from consumers throughout the competition period. The special prize was sponsored by GRTU and presented by GRTU vice president Marcel Mizzi.
In a video message parliamentary secretary for Consumer Protection and Valletta 2018 Deo Debattista congratulated the winners and thanked them for the good service they are offering to their customers. Dr Debattista said that these awards should encourage companies to continue to improve their customer service so as to attract more and more consumers and further strengthen consumer trust.
Dr Debattista stressed that the success of these companies is mainly due to the fact that they recognise the important role the consumer plays and hence they opt to put the consumer at the very centre of their business operation. While it is important for sellers to offer goods and services at competitive prices, it is likewise important to assist consumers while they are making their buying decision and also provide good after sales service. Dr Debattista also thanked the consumers for participating in this competition. This year over 1,500 votes were submitted. This participation has undoubtedly ensured that the best sellers received the well-deserved awards.
In her speech, MCCAA chairperson Ing. Helga Pizzuto explained that the main objective of this award is that of recognising those sellers who provide a good customer service and who adopt commercial practices that are beneficial to consumers and that strengthen consumers' rights at law.
Ing. Pizzuto said that the Office for Consumer Affairs within the MCCAA, besides ensuring that sellers abide by their legal obligations, also encourages business operators to adopt commercial practices that give consumers more benefits than those established by law. Ing. Pizzuto explained that the MCCAA is committed to strengthen this competition and to encourage more consumers to participate.
During the award ceremony, four consumers selected at random from those who participated in the voting process, were awarded a €100 cheque each. The consumers were presented with the cheques by MCCAA chairperson and the director general Consumer Affairs Joyce Borg.
The companies that received the majority of votes in the five different categories were vetted by the MCCAA to ensure that these traders abided by the award's code of conduct. The MCCAA checked that these companies adhered to regulations; that prices in their outlets were indicated as per The Price Indication Regulations; that consumer complaints were dealt within a timely manner and that whenever possible they avoided that disputes with consumers were referred to the Consumer Claims Tribunal by opting for resolution through conciliation. The winners of the five categories each received a trophy, a certificate and the use of the Servizz bi Tbissima logo.
The fourth edition of Servizz bi Tbissima will be launched by the MCCAA in the coming months.