Dutch consumers are increasingly annoyed by the junkmail they find in their postboxes. These advertisements usually end up unopened in the recycling bin, according to a survey by consumers' association Consumentenbond. The association calls on companies to look for a more customer- and environmentally friendly alternative for getting consumers' attention.
Consumentenbond
May 28 '19 12:50
May 18 '19 08:30
Dutch consumer association Consumentenbond joined five other European organizations calling on regulators to take action against AliExpress. The groups accuse the Chinese online retail subsidiary of Alibaba of violating European rules with the site’s terms and conditions.
Apr 9 '19 11:50
Consumers association Consumentenbond wants the Dutch government to introduce the Nutriscore label on Dutch products. Nutriscore is a color-coded label that shows at a glance how healthy or unhealthy a product is, with ratings from A (healthy) to E (unhealthy).
Mar 26 '19 08:47
PostNL's package delivery is not up to standard, according to consumers' association Consumentenbond. Consumers have been complaining about PostNL for years. "No other company causes as many complaints as PostNL and that has to change", the association said on Tuesday, ANP reports.
Mar 25 '19 12:00
Organic products in the Netherlands are becoming more affordable, according to a price comparison by consumers' association Consumentenbond. Five years ago organic products were on average twice as expensive as regular ones. Now buying organic is 63 percent more expensive, AD reports.
The association compared 115 products from 13 regular supermarkets and four organic stores.
Jan 22 '19 14:50
Dutch consumers' association Consumentenbond handed Google a petition against the company's location tracking with over 50 thousand signatures. This petition forms part of a joint action by seven consumer associations in Europe, Consumentenbond announced on Monday, NU.nl reports.
Jan 4 '19 15:00
Dutch consumers' association Consumentenbond took down over 2,700 fake online stores by getting in touch with their hosting providers late last year. This brings the total of fake online stores shut down to over 4,500 in 2018, the organization announced, RTL Nieuws reports.
The association calls the fake online stores a plague for Dutch consumers. Consumentenbond tracked them down through, among other things, language errors, strange web addresses and tips from observant users.
Dec 10 '18 11:50
Consumers' association Consumentenbond is demanding that KLM removes the 'no-show' clause from its general terms and conditions. If the Dutch airline fails to do so, the consumers' association will take the matter to court, RTL Nieuws reports.
Dec 5 '18 11:10
PostNL was flooded with complaints in the run-up to Pakjesavond on Tuesday. Hundreds of customers were worried that their Sinterklaas gifts would not arrive on time, AD reports.
The fact that Sinterklaas is increasingly buying his gifts online has its disadvantages. Online shops, sorting centers, and package deliverers were overflowing with packages this past week, according to the newspaper.
Nov 27 '18 10:00
Consumers' association Consumentenbond filed a complaint with the Dutch Data Protection Authority against Google. According to the union, Google 'tricks' Android users into giving permission for their smartphones' location to be used, which is against the law, ANP reports.
Research by Consumentenbond showed that 54% of Dutch Android users have the function 'web&app' enabled. This is used to keep track of location history. The majority of these users did not know that this option was activated, the Dutch association said.
Feb 27 '18 12:10
Many Dutch companies do not deal carefully with their customers' data, consumers association Consumentenbond concludes after studying five large companies in different industries. Even companies that you won't expect collect data on a large scale to sell to third parties, the association warns, BNR reports.
Consumentenbond looked at PostNL, Prenatal, Sanoma, Ticketmaster and Zalando. They were more or less randomly chosen, which means they are not necessarily the worst in the market when it comes to handling customer data.
Feb 27 '18 11:30
Many holiday homes in the Netherlands are not cleaned well, according to a study by consumers association Consumentenbond. Researchers regularly found e.coli, hair, fungus, insects, and stains on walls and mattresses while doing this study.
Consumentenbond had mystery guests visit 30 holiday parks across the Netherlands. These guests inspected the cleanliness of the rooms, also using a UV light to check for bodily fluids. Fourteen of the checked holiday parks' hygiene was not up to standard. Especially the walls in the kitchens and bathrooms showed problems.
Nov 24 '17 08:40
It's Black Friday today. And the American tradition of offering massive sales and discounts on the Friday after Thanksgiving seems to now also be firmly rooted in the Netherlands. According to research agency Motivaction, more and more Dutch shops, businesses and consumers are participating in the discount circus, NOS reports.
In Rotterdam, it's not only shops offering discounts. The municipality teamed up with retailers, hotels and museums to make an entire weekend of it, according to the broadcaster.
Nov 21 '17 17:10
Consumers association Consumentenbond is very critical about the freshness of shrimp sold in Dutch supermarkets Albert Heijn, Jumbo and Lidl. Jumbo's shrimp also contains more preservatives than is permitted by Dutch law, according to the association, NU.nl reports.
Nov 21 '17 12:00
Almost all health insurers in the Netherlands have so-called "clone policies" among their offer, consumers' association Consumentenbond warns. These are policies from the same provider that have different names, but only actually differ in price. That's not allowed in the Netherlands, but insurers get away with it by offering these policies through subsidiaries or intermediaries, according to the association, RTL Nieuws reports.
Aug 22 '17 09:37
Banks treat their customers with a mortgage "too often as a cash cow", Bart Combee, director of Dutch consumers assocation Consumentenbond said on Tuesday. A study by the association showed that banks often charge higher than necessary costs for adjustments to mortgages, ANP reports.
Aug 22 '17 09:08
A "scarily high" 31 percent of sushi meals that are delivered to customers' homes contain too much bacteria, according to consumers association Consumentenbond. This is caused by poor hygiene in the preparation of the meals, the association concludes after testing 160 sushi samples from 20 restaurants in five cities, NU.nl reports.
Poor hygiene standards include using dirty cutting boards and employees not washing their hands before working with the food. In many cases the delivered sushi was fresh, the Consumentenbond added.
Aug 4 '17 15:30
Special gluten-free products are not always a healthier alternative to regular products, consumers association Consumentenbond reports. A study done by the association revealed that gluten-free products often contain more fat, sugar and/or salt and less fiber than similar products with gluten, ANP reports.
The association compared the ingredient lists of five gluten-free A-brand products to similar products containing gluten. The results told a scary tale.
Jul 11 '17 10:30
Several prominent Dutch health websites are not careful enough with their visitors' privacy, according to consumers organization Consumentenbond. A number use cookies without permission and some use an un-encrypted connection, NU.nl reports.
Mar 27 '17 11:30
Claim organization Wakkerpolis filed a 3.2 billion euros lawsuit against insurer NN Group for unjust fees on investment insurance. This collective corporate profiteering claim is being filed on behalf of about 500 thousand NN customers and in cooperation with consumers organization Consumentenbond, ANP reports.
This collective claim follows a won lawsuit involving one file last year. In that case complaints institute Kifid ruled that NN had to reimburse the initial costs of an investment insurance because the customer was not well informed about those costs.
Feb 1 '17 09:35
Thousands of counterfeit products are traded over Dutch website Bol.com, watchdog React said to AD on Wednesday. This includes things like cellphones, earphones, batteries and chargers.
Dec 6 '16 16:00
Dutch consumers organization Consumentenbond issued a warning about the "My Friend Cayla" doll, following research by its Norwegian counterpart. According to the Norwegian organization, anyone with a smart phone can eavesdrop on children through the doll, or even talk to them. All that is needed is a bluetooth connection to the doll.
Nov 7 '16 12:00
Although air travelers in Europe are entited to compensation for flight delays of more than three hours, about half of Dutch passengers do not get this compensation, the Telegraaf reports.
The newspaper based its report on figures from organizations like Reisrecht, Vluchtvertraacht, EUclaim and Consumentenbond. According to Henry Noorderhaven of EUclaim, every year about 80 thoousand Dutch miss out on this compensation, most of them get talked out of claiming. This involves an amount of about 35 million euro, according to him. "the aviation inspectorate does nothing."
Oct 26 '16 15:10
According to consumers association Consumentenbond, the Dutch health insurers have more than 3.3 billion euros in "extra" reserves, even though they're making less profits. The association calls on the insurers to stop "hoarding unnecessarily" and "do everything to reduce the premium increases", ANP reports.
Figures from last year show that the four big insurers CZ, VGZ, Achmea and Menzis made half the profit they did in 2014. "But the four still managed to put 307 million into the reserve port in 2015", Bart Combee, director of the Consumentenbond said.
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