Puerto Rico’s Consumer Affairs Department (DACO) has begun instructing and training its inspectors for Black Friday sales while it reviews retailers’ promotional flyers, acting DACO secretary Erwin "Farito" Álvarez Rodríguez said. The agency is also maintaining an operation to weigh turkeys, he added. Álvarez Rodríguez said that several weeks ago DACO signed a collaborative agreement with the association representing retailers to promote transparency in special sales.
He said the effort has been under way for a decade and expressed confidence that the November 27 shopping day will proceed in an orderly way, as he said last year’s did. The secretary said most of the promotional flyers reviewed have met requirements and that retailers have corrected errors pointed out in text and illustrations before publication.
He also said retailers are committed to obtaining and guaranteeing consumers the advertised item when they come looking for it and it is not available. He noted that promotions have spread beyond Black Friday, with offers throughout the month, Orange Wednesday and Cyber Monday. "We will not give up our duty as a monitoring agency," he said, saying DACO will be on the street monitoring sales and addressing noncompliance.