- Goods must be of satisfactory quality. For example:
- A fisherman sold his fishing boat to the claimant. The claimant brought an action against the defendant based on breach of Act of the Sale of Goods Act as the boat was not of satisfactory quality. This Act only applies to the sale of goods sold in the course of a business. The defendant argued that the sale of the boat was not in the course of his business. His business was catching fish and selling them, he was not in the business of buying and selling fishing boats.
- The sale was in the course of the business and therefore the defendant did have to ensure the boat was of satisfactory quality.
- Goods sold by sample, the goods must correspond to the sample in quality:
- This is where there is an express or implied term to that effect in the contract. This means that the seller is shown a specimen of products which he will buy in bulk. A similar obligation on the seller is imposed in sales by sample, which implies a condition that the goods will “correspond with the sample in quality and the goods will be free from any defect, [making their quality unsatisfactory], which would not be apparent on reasonable examination of the sample.
The Sale of Goods Act applies to all contracts for the sale of goods; however, it is more limited in its scope in that it only applies where goods are sold in the course of a business. Also where the goods are sold in the course of a business the provisions of the Sale of Goods Act are reinforced with the protection offered by the Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977 which prohibits their exclusion.
These protections are in the form of statutory implied terms. This means that the Sale of Goods Act will put these terms into all contracts for the sale of goods no matter what the parties themselves have agreed in the terms and conditions of sale. A contract is for the sale of goods provided it is a contract to transfer ownership of goods (as opposed to a hire agreement) and the goods are exchanged for money. This excludes contracts of barter unless money is also given.
: according to this website it shows that this is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which prevents manufacturers, retailers or service industry providers from misleading consumers as to what they are spending their money on. This law empowers the judiciary to punish companies or individuals who make false claims about the products or services that they sell. Applying a false trade description to goods is a strict liability offence: provided it is shown that the description was applied and was false, the accused has to prove certain defences in order to escape conviction.
Each product sold must be as described, of satisfactory quality, and fit for purpose. "As described" refers to any advert or verbal description made by the trader. "Satisfactory quality" covers minor and cosmetic defects as well as substantial deficiencies and means that products must last a reasonable time but does not give any rights if a fault was obvious or pointed out at the point of sale.
"Fit for purpose" covers not only the obvious purpose of an item but also any purpose determined at the point of sale as a result of queries by the customer and assurances given by the trader.
Consumer Credit Act 2006: this aims to protect the rights of consumers when they purchase goods on credit. Traders who make such agreements must obtain a license from the Office of Fair Trading.
It does this by:
- Strengthening consumer rights by enabling consumers to challenge unfair lending agreements and making it possible for disputes to be resolved more easily.
- Improving consumer credit regulation by strengthening and improving the licensing system for consumer credit businesses, requiring consumers to be provided with minimum standards of information, and through targeted action to tackle unfair practices.
- Increasing the effectiveness of regulation by extending protection to all types of consumer credit and creating a more suitable regime for business
: Data protection act 1998 sets out rules for organisations/company when they collect and use people’s personal data. The purpose of this legislation is to protect customers from the unfair use of their personal details. The act limits the amount and type of data Tesco can collect and use in their marketing. On the club card application form Tesco have included a section on data protection which the customer must complete and sign for Tesco to use and pass on their data. If a customer wants Tesco to send them offers (marketing) on Tesco only products they must select this option including a list of what campines have to do.
Voluntary Constraints
This is the process of organisations also abide to voluntary rules which they may sign up to within their industry. Signing up to a code of practice stating certain ethical behaviours, maybe voluntary and cannot be legally enforced. The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) overlooks advertisements within the UK.
- Voluntary Codes of Practice are statements by a committee or organisation about methods of working recommended as “good practice” within an industry
- Advertising Standards Authority Code of Practice. ASA is responsible for all adverts and promotions across all media, including as follow:
- Insist that it approves any advertising before it is published or broadcast.
- Refer the advertiser to the Office of Fair Trading.
- Ask TV station, radio stations and publishers to withdraw the advertising from their broadcasts and publications.
Direct Marketing Association (DMA)
- DMA are concerned with all forms of direct response marketing (e.g. email marketing and direct mail shots).
- Protects consumers from inappropriate, unethical behaviour by unscrupulous or ignorant businesses and promotes best practice through codes of conduct.
Pressure Groups and Consumerism
Pressure groups are organisations formed with the objective of influencing government, business companies or business policy at local, national or international level.
Pressure groups can be extremely effective in changing organisational behaviour. Formed by people with a common interest who join together in order to further that interest e.g. Greenpeace, Drink aware, Amnesty International
Consumerism defined as ‘social movement seeking to augment the rights of buyers in relation to sellers’ this mean that it a role customers play in which to helping the society businesses to be more suitable with the product they sell. For example:
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Watchdog: this is a consumer protection organisation that helps protect consumer’s right.
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Rogue Traders: this is a prime-time presenter-led investigative consumer affair.
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Consumer Association : this is organisations that known for testing household products like washing machines and digital cameras. They do not only test thing but according to their website it shows that their mission statement is to ‘Exist to make individuals as powerful as the organisations they have to deal with in their daily lives.
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Office of Fair Trading: this is a government organisation that, their mission is to make sure that markets work well for consumers. They achieve this by promoting and protecting consumer interests throughout the UK, while ensuring that businesses are fair and competitive.
Watchdog, Rogue Traders and Consumer Association: These organisations help businesses to make sure they carry out good product.
Bibliography and References
Information from: