For a reasonable charge
- With a reasonable care and skill
- Using satisfactory materials
The Supply of Goods Act
This act deals with the responsibilities of the seller in relation to hire purchase contracts.
Anyone buying goods on hire purchase has the some protection under the law as a person who buys the goods outright
The supplier must ensure that
- He or she has legal title to the goods (has the right to sell)
- The description of the goods is accurate and not misleading
- The quality of the goods is of reasonable standard
- If selling by sample, the sample is representative of rest of the consignment
The Trade Descriptions Act
This act is designed to prevent a false or misleading of goods, e.g.
- Selling goods, which are wrongly described by the manufacturer
- Implied descriptions, e.g. a picture on a box, which gives a false impression
- Other aspects of the goods, including quantity, size, composition, method of manufacturer etc
The trade description act makes it a criminal offence:
- To make a false statements about goods offered for sale
- To make misleading statements about services
- Stating that a car for sale clocked up 15,000 miles, when in fact the figure is 25,000 miles
- Making a misleading statement about service e.g. our dry cleaning is guaranteed to remove every stain' when it does not, or 'our apartments are within easy reach of the sea' when they are fifteen miles away
Consumer Protection Act
This act was first o be introduced in the UK to bring the UK into line with other EU countries. It deals with three aspects of consumer protection
The product liability section made producers liable for any damage done by defective products. Prior to the implementation of the act, producers could claim that they had not been negligent, or that they did not know that the goods were defective. Neither of these claims can now be made, which should make manufactures mush more careful in the production and quality control of their goods.
The act goes been further in ensuring that customers are protected from damage or injury caused by faulty goods. In addition to the manufactures themselves, importers are also liable, as are sellers who put their own brand name on goods, manufactures by someone else. Suppliers can also be liable if they do not provide, when asked, the name of the manufacturer, their own supplier, the owner of the brand or the importer.
The second part of the act deals with consumer safety and allows the government to regulate the design, components and construction of goods which could if defective, cause injury or even death. Such goods include electrical appliances, oil heaters and flexes on domestic electrical goods.
Part three of the act makes it illegal to mislead consumers about the price of any goods, service or facility. The provisions of this part are quite comprehensive and cover such services as banking, gas, and electricity supplies, telephone services and parking and also accommodation and all goods.
Data Protection Act
This act protects the confidentiality of information stored in computers. There are 7 main parts to this act
- The data stored must be acquired legally
- Data must only be used for the purpose for which it is held
- Data must not be disclosed to others unless this is necessary for the purpose for which it is held
- Data must be accurate and up to date
- People whose data is held must be allowed access to any information about them
- Any incorrect information must be corrected
- Every data holder must make proper security arrangements to ensure that no unauthorised person gains access to the data.
In practical terms, this means that computer users must not give unauthorised printouts of data to anyone, and must ensure that such print outs are not left lying about. Passwords and ID’s should be kept confidential and not disclosed to anyone.
Ombudsman
An ombudsman is responsible for dealing with complaints about the operations of certain organisations.
The first ombudsman, created in 1967, was the parliamentary commissioner for administration. He or she deals with complaints about central government departments. The ombudsman scheme has grown over the years and there are now ombudsmen in the following areas
- The national health service
Consumers will go through a similar process when complaining to the ombudsman in other areas. There are some areas of complaints that the ombudsman cannot investigate.
Fair Trading
In 1973 the fair trading act established the office of fair trading. The office of fair trading is responsible for overseeing all matters relating to consumer protection.
This is a government organisation that
- Publishes information about consumer rights
- Encourages organisations to establish codes of practice
- Enforces the consumer credit act
- Makes recommendations to the government about consumer laws
- Takes action against unfair traders
- Deals with monopolies and mergers
The duties of the director general of fair trading include
- Reviewing and collecting information about commercial activities in the UK so that he or she may become aware of any practices that are not in the interest of consumers
- Arranging for the publication of information and advice for consumers
- Encouraging trade associations and individual business organisation to prepare codes of practice
- Making recommendations to the government regarding action to be taken to improve customer services in general or in particular.
When a trader has been found to be unfair to customers and/or to act in a manner that is detrimental to the customer’s interest regarding health, safety and other matters, the office of fair trading can demand that the trader should give a written assurance that he or she will stop acting in this manner. Unfair practices include any breach of the law, misrepresentation, misleading pricing, misleading advertising and unfair methods of salesmanship.
Competition
Most companies are keen to stay ahead of their competitors and are eager to improve customer service. Unfortunately, the urge to do better sometimes has the opposite effect. Quite often, a business organisation decides that taking over or merging with another company is the way forward. The resulting organisation is now larger than all its rivals and thus more likely to increase its profitability. However, such large businesses can be contrary to the interests of customers, depriving them of choice and providing a lower standard of service. To prevent this, the government has established the competition commission, a body which reviews all proposed mergers and take-overs and can, is it deems it necessary, recommend that the amalgamation should not take place.
Consequences of non-compliance with legislation
The purpose of consumer protection legislation is threefold
- To ensure that providers of goods and services understand exactly the legal requirement of customer care that they must provide
- To establish procedures or redress for customers
- To establish legal procedures for dealing with sellers who are in breach of the legal requirements
To relevant acts of parliament contain all the information needed by sellers who want to know their legal responsibilities towards their customers. It would be no excuse for a seller to claim that he or she did not know what the law requires. As far as customers are concerned, the legislation also includes information about the steps they can take when sellers fail to provide satisfactory customer care, whether by giving misleading or untruthful information, not dealing with enquiries or complaints, or failing to fulfil their contractual obligations.
As far as the sellers are concerned, the consequences of non-compliance with consumer protection legislation can be significant. If a business organisation is found guilty in the courts, it can be fined or, in some cases, particularly where standards if safety, hygiene and quality of food and drink are concerned, by ordered to carry out expensive improvements or even be closed down.
Even if customer dissatisfaction does not lead to a court case, businesses are aware that it can lead to the loss of existing and potential customer who hear about the bad experiences of others. Good customers care enhances a firm’s reputation but bad customer care can ruin it.
The UK and the EU
As a member of the EU, the UK has to conform to standards set out in EU directives. This brought about the consumer protection act 1987. these directives which aim to ensure that all EU members operate to the same standards, are likely to increase in the future. Regulations regarding the safety of various appliances have already been upgraded in accordance with EU directives.
For some customer themselves, UK membership of the EU means that they can now have redress to the EU legal system if they are not satisfied with the outcome in the British courts. This is a complicated and costly procedure and is unlikely to be used often
The Citizens Charter
The conservative government in 1991 introduced the citizen’s charter. It deals with the rights of consumers in the following areas
- Central government departments
- Local government departments
- The national health service
- Key utilities, for example, water, gas, electricity and telecommunications
Contracts
When customers buy goods or services, they make a contract with the seller. This is a voluntary agreement that is enforced by law. There are two main types of contracts.
These are in written form, for example a contract for the sale of land or a house.
For example buying a product in a shop.
There are three parts that make up a contract (whether formal or informal)
- Offer and acceptance
One party must have offered something and the other party must have accepted it before the contract is valid
- Consideration
This is where something is given or received in return for the promise of payment
- Intention to create a legal partnership
For the contract to be valid both the buyer and seller must intend to stick to the agreement and the terms involved, for example, when somebody buys an item from a shop.
The Consumer’s Association
The consumer association tests products to check their quality and standard, and publishes the results in its magazine “which?” the organisation is independent and had quite a significant influence on business and consumers.
Local Consumer Groups
These are set up locally and are encourages by the consumers association. Their aim is to encourage members of the public to take an interest in consumer issues and to campaign for improvements to local businesses and/or their products and services.
The British Standards Institution (BSI)
This is a national organisation that is run independently. It draws up specifications against which it tests products (and sometimes services). A product approved by the BSI is entitled to carry the BSI Kite mark.