Fogyasztóvédők Magyarországi Egyesülete

About the association

International experiences prove, that consumer protection is the most effective when the consumers are actively participating.
Since the consumers are usually in an exposed position when they are facing the suppliers of the market they need civil assistance to be able to handle such inequalities. That is why we established the Association For The Hungarian Consumers ( AHC) which started operating in March 2003.

The orbit and the priorities of the association

The aim of the association is to protect the interests of the consumers. In the orbit AHC is reveals, deputizes, protects, informs and instructs consumers about their rights and duties. The association operates within the classical scope of the consumer protection, but it also specializes on the field of financial activities and services.
Our priorities are 1: informing, 2: guiding and 3: instructing the consumers.

Informing the consumers

Our persuasion is that in the formation of a conscious consumer attitude we can only be successful if we recognize and exploit the possibilities of the alternative information. It is a proven fact, that when an association is being established from under with a civic base it can inform and guide the consumers more effectively. www.fogyasztovedok.hu is the official website of AHC. It is designed to provide the best pieces of information to all objections of the widest social scale of the consumers concerning their purchases or financial activities. The website also provides an on-line panel where our experts can answer all possible consumer complaints. Each year the association launches several informative campaigns and organizes conferences and seminars for both consumers and consumer protection experts.

Consumer guidance

The association provides a complex service for consumers if they contact us by phone, in person or on-line. Beside informing the consumers about their general rights and duties we also provide information concerning individual complaints and inform them about their specific rights and duties while they are trying to probate their individual claims. In behalf of the consumer or consumers the association apropos of a concrete consumer complaint in its opinion is able to exploit every possible consumer protection action such as advocacy when it concerns one particular individual or legal action in general interest in case of a collective incorrect act. The guidance of the association is organized on a regional level. Uniquely in Hungary AHC operates a consultative office in several regions which colligates the spheres of the civic, the official and the autonomous levels. In our days the necessity of such panels are incontestable.

Instructing the consumers

In the course of our work we experience, that Hungary is in absence of consumer culture according to the western European countries. We believe that the lack of consumer protection instruction is one reason for it. Despite the legislative enactment and the intention of the government there are still no consumer protection instructions in the institutions of education. We believe, that for a generation change in the consumer protection it is absolutely necessary to teach the younger generation how they can probate their rights and become part of the European consumer society. The association is tentatively instructing consumer protection in several high educational institutions and middle schools. The goal is to provide sufficient information for this particular age group and informing them about the usual abuses of the suppliers of the products and services they most frequently choose.

Our mission

We believe, that for changing the attitude of the Hungarian consumers it is necessary to recognize, exploit and harmonize the actors of the consumer protection and the possibilities of the alternative information. In pursuance of our work as a consumer protection association we probate the interest of a specific social group, but we must try to develop a harmonic relationship with all the actors of the economy, and they must realize that by using all the complaints and messages, which are being constantly received by our association, they can improve their businesses.