Servizz bi Tbissima 2019
21.11.19
MCCAA announces ‘Premju Servizz bi Tbissima 2019’ winners
The MCCAA announced the winners of the fifth edition of Premju Servizz bi Tbissima at an awards night held on November 21.
The main objective of this award is to assist consumers and traders to develop and strengthen a good relationship. Through this initiative, the Authority encourages local sellers to adopt trading practices that provide consumers with more benefits than those established at law.
In his address, Parliamentary Secretary for Consumer Rights, Public Cleansing and Support for the Capital City Deo Debattista spoke about how giving service with a smile to customers can help generate a loyal customer base and make consumers feel comfortable to bring forward any difficulties they may encounter. Deo Debattista said that this initiative rewards sellers and their employees who provide a good service to their customers, especially after-sales service. When problems arise, sellers must manage to change a negative experience into a positive one. Consumers appreciate and value such after-sales service and this is reflected in the success of the Servizz bi Tbissima competition which this year attracted over 5,200 votes. Deo Debattista also noted the Authority’s commitment to strengthen and build trustful relationships between consumers and sellers.
In her welcome address, MCCAA Chairperson Helga Pizzuto spoke about the Authority’s mission in having a market where fair-trading prevails, and consumer welfare is enhanced. A healthy economy needs sellers and consumers to appreciate and trust each other. The MCCAA facilitates the building of such a relationship through various initiatives such as Premju Servizz bi Tbissima and the Trust You Scheme. The former’s success transpires in the increasing consumer participation and the traders’ enthusiasm in promoting this competition among their customers. Helga Pizzuto expressed the Authority’s commitment to continue educating both consumers and sellers about their rights and responsibilities.
The Authority is also bound to provide consumers and local economic operators with a high-quality service. To ensure this, the Authority has extended the international standard certification, ISO 9001 to the Office for Consumer Affairs operational performance. The Office’s success in obtaining this certification underscores its commitment to provide a quality service to the benefit of both consumers and economic operators.
The competition includes five categories of sellers and voting by the general public took place between June 12 and July 10, 2019.
The winners of each category were the following:
The category of ‘Electronic Products and Household Goods’ was won by Forestals, while SCAN and Homemate placed second and third respectively.
The category ‘Online Local Sellers’ was won by scanmalta.com, whilst forestals.com placed second. The third place was awarded to mvintage.com and pavipama.com.mt with equal votes.
Hair Haven won the ‘Fashion and Beauty’ category. In this category D Beauty Bar placed second, and the third place was awarded to Fair Hair and Beauty Salon.
The winner of the ‘Supermarkets and Mini Markets’ category was John’s Food Market followed by Pavi-Pama Supermarket in second place. Lidl placed third.
The category of ‘Travel’ was won by ROCS Travel, while Air Malta and Britannia Tours placed second and third respectively.
This year over 800 different sellers and companies were nominated in the five categories. The top five in each category were closely vetted by the Servizz bi Tbissima Board to first ensure that the votes received were valid and according to the competition’s terms and conditions and to check that nominated traders abided by the award’s code of conduct in their day-to-day operations. The Board also checked that these companies adhered to regulations and in case of disputes, it was confirmed that these were dealt with promptly with minimum inconvenience for consumers.
The companies that placed first in each of the five categories received a trophy, a certificate and the right to use the Servizz bi Tbissima logo on their promotional material.
12.06.19
Premju Servizz bi Tbissima 2019 Press Launch
The 5th edition of ‘Premju Servizz bi Tbissima’ was launched by the MCCAA at St George’s Square, Valletta.
“The organisation of this award promotes and encourages good business practices as it recognises and values the good service that local traders give their customers. This recognition is directly given by consumers as they are the ones who in this competition vote for their favourite sellers”, Parliamentary Secretary for Consumer Rights, Public Cleansing and Support for the Capital, Deo Debattista said during the launch.
When companies and sellers invest in high quality customer care service they invest in their own future and success. Businesses that do not take good care of their customers are doomed to fail and eventually close down. The parliamentary secretary also said that local sellers are not only competing on an international level to provide the best choice of products and prices but are also continuously assessed and criticised about how they treat their customers before and after a sale is concluded. When consumers are satisfied with the service provided, they usually spread the word by recommending the seller to other consumers. It is this kind of advertising that sellers and companies should strive to achieve.
MCCAA Chairperson Helga Pizzuto said that ‘Premju Servizz bi Tbissima’ is an initiative that reflects the authority’s belief that consumer rights can be best strengthened and protected by facilitating better relationships between buyers and sellers. Consumers and traders cannot exist without each other and hence need to understand and value one another.
The ‘Premju Servizz bi Tbissima’ award offers consumers the opportunity to appreciate and thank sellers who do their utmost to provide a good service. Local consumers can vote for sellers who fall under one of the competition’s five main categories: fashion and beauty, supermarkets and mini-markets, travel, electronic products and household goods, and online local sellers. The competition allows consumers to vote for more than one seller, even within the same category, but they can only vote once for the same seller.
Consumers can vote in this competition through the MCCAA website. This year the competition period is open from Wednesday 12th June 2019 till Wednesday 10th July 2019. Consumers who participate in this competition will be eligible to win one of four cash prizes of €100 each.
The ‘Premju Servizz bi Tbissima’ award is tied to a code of conduct and hence the companies most voted for in each category will be checked by the authority to confirm that they meet the criteria of the award’s code and are eventually confirmed as winners.
The winners of the five categories will be announced during an award giving ceremony and will each receive a trophy and a certificate. The winners will also be given the opportunity to use the ‘Servizz bi Tbissima’ logo in their retail outlets and on their promotional material.