• According to the Trade Inspection investigation, a visit bars or restaurants at railway or petrol stations may be an unpleasant surprise in 87 cases out of 100. We would like to remind you of your rights.
• Find out what you can count on in a hotel abroad and what to do if a resort fails to deliver what was offered. For this purpose, see the guide on the website of the European Consumer Centre.
• It has been the tenth time that we have passed on summer tips as part of the campaign “Before holidays - what you should know”.

Every year from 2010, UOKiK in cooperation with various institutions reminds customers what they should be aware of during summer holidays. This time we invited the Provincial Inspectorates of the Trade Inspection and the European Consumer Centre to join the campaign. Together, we want to point out to where we eat and stay during summer holidays, that is to eating places and hotels.

Walleye pollock instead of cod, old oil and dirty fridges

We often stop at petrol or railway station for dinner when travelling. In the third quarter of 2018, the Trade Inspection commissioned UOKiK to inspect 169 such places as well as bars, restaurants and several stores where you can buy a meal. In 87% of them, irregularities were uncovered: from bad labelling to providing false information on the type of meat, fish or cheese. In total, inspectors checked 4,975 batches of products and raised objections to 2180 of them. Most irregularities (1,991 of contested batches) concerned labelling. 240 samples were sent to the UOKiK laboratories, where experts checked what ingredients were used by chefs to make dishes and whether it was in line with the menu. They questioned 17% dishes or drinks. In total, the Trade Inspection stated poor customer service in every third of investigated facilities.

The most serious irregularities detected during the inspection included:

• misleading information about ingredients, e.g. grilled lamb chops contained beef, pork and poultry instead of lamb; cod was replaced with walleye pollock; oscypek turned out to be a regular cheese,
• smaller portions, e.g. the underweight of two portions of fried sole totalled 140 grams (a customer ordered a portion weighting allegedly 970 g but got 830 g); in some cases, sellers weighed fish together with trays,
• misleading customers as to the origin of ingredients, e.g. products were said to be local, natural, made of simple ingredients, while in fact they contained pea fibre and aromas; according to a restaurant advertisement, food was made from fresh products while a customer is waiting it but in reality deep-frozen products were used; a menu said that traditional ingredients were used (marked with special labels as local or organic) while conventional products were served (e.g. cheaper brine cheese instead of Feta cheese),
• no list of ingredients and no information about allergens,
• expired products, e.g. spices, cheese, sauces, drinks; moreover, in some cases old, dirty oil was re-used for frying,
• improper food storage and sanitary conditions, e.g. dirty, overly frosted or faulty refrigerators,
• incomplete information about prices.

Providing false information about ingredients and misleading consumers are subject to fines from PLN 1,000 up to 10% of turnover from the previous year. The investigation resulted in 93 such fines for a total amount of PLN 101,000. Moreover, sellers received 53 mandatory fines (for almost PLN 11,000 in total) for such offences as improper sanitary conditions and using scales without attestation. The inspectors also sent to court 10 applications for fines for using expired ingredients and frauds. The irregularities were also reported to competent authorities, e.g. sanitary supervision.

Do you eat in a bar or a restaurant? Know your rights:

1. Complete information about the dish. Before ordering a meal, you should know what you order. The menu or price list must provide full composition of each dish, including allergenic ingredients. You should not be forced to ask a waiter for this information.
2. Complete information about the price. If the price given in the menu refers to a portion weighting 100 g of meat or fish, you should get at least an approximate information about the size before you place an order. Remember that the dish should be weighed after frying or baking, not before heat processing, when it is heavier. If a restaurant charges a mandatory service fee, it must clearly and legibly inform about it in a visible place, e.g. in the menu.
3. Complaint. When you have objections to the food, for example, when you ordered a ham pizza and you got a mushroom one instead, the soup is cold, the fish burned, or the waiter made you wait an hour and a half for service, report it to the staff as soon as possible, preferably to the facility owner or manager if they are there. As part of a complaint, you may request a price reduction or a dish you ordered may be exchanged. Remember, however, that it does not apply to your subjective impressions as you cannot make a complaint just because you did not like the food.
4. Report to the Trade Inspection. If you have reservations related to the quality of catering services, please report them to local Provincial Inspectorate of Trade Inspection. Provide the name of a restaurant and attach the necessary documentation. E.g., if the price list said that the cod costs PLN 10 but it does not say that the price is for 100 g, and you paid PLN 35, please send a photo of the price list and the receipt. The Trade Inspection takes account of complaints when planning an investigation. If the restaurant has rejected your complaint, you may also file a request to the Trade Inspection for an alternative dispute resolution.

Find out more details of the inspection on the websites of the Provincial Inspectorates of the Trade Inspection.

Hotel meals

Prior to the conclusion of a contract with a travel agency, hotel or intermediary, it is worth making sure what exactly a given facility offers. Pay attention to when meals will be served, how many restaurants there are in a hotel, where they are located. A tour operator should keep all contractual promises it made.

Particular attention should be paid to “all inclusive” trips, because tour operators invented new categories of them, such as “all-inclusive soft” (snacks or some types of beverages are excluded) or “all-inclusive ultra” with extra conveniences.

For more information, please visit the European Consumer Centre website.

Consumer service:

Phone: 801 440 220 or 22 290 89 16 – consumer helpline
E-mail: [SCODE]cG9yYWR5QGRsYWtvbnN1bWVudG93LnBs[ECODE]
Consumers’ Ombudsmen – in your town or district
Regional Consumer Centres: 22 299 60 90 – Dlakonsumenta.pl
Provincial Inspectorate of Trade Inspection
European Consumer Centre – in cross-border cases