Consumer Protection Act in the UK - Essay Example

Introduction There are many laws that govern the buying and selling of products in a business. These laws specifically the rights of the consumers are outlined in various acts and laws. The most common are the misrepresentation Act of 1967, Trade Description Act of 1968, the Unfair contract Terms Act of 1977, the 1979 Sale of Goods Act, the Consumer Protection Act of 1987, the Sale and Supply of Goods Act of 1994 and the Sale and Supply of Goods to Consumers Regulations of 2002. These acts and regulations are meant to ensure that consumers are protected and also the sellers are protected. The acts ensure a fair business between the retailer/ sellers and the consumers/ buyers. (Department of Trade Industry, 2005) Consumer Protection act For the purpose of this paper we shall look at the UK law on the law on mobile phone and especially with regard to DTI 2005 laws. The UK law is applicable when selling or leasing goods or services, that are used by individual consumers, family or the household uses. Retailers are prohibited from applying dishonesty, misrepresentations or falsified operations and practices. This act ensures that goods and services sold to the customer are in good condition. On the other hand this act ensures that the retailers make sure that they receive goods from manufacturers or wholesales in good condition for them to sale to the end user. Return policy The laws in UK calls for the retail business person to affix a sign to the products sold or put a sign in a place which it can be easily be read by the buyer before he/she can purchase the product. The sign placed should be able to give details of return policy of the seller. If the seller fails to place a sign then, the consumer should be given 20 days in which he/she can return the purchase item and be fully refunded or credited back on his/her credit card. In case a buyer had paid using a cheque, then a seller may delay refunding the money for 10 days to allow the cheque to clear. This law do not apply to products which are outdated. Post season or reduced for sale clearance. It also does not cover special order purchases or buying that involves selling or leasing motor vehicles. This acts the consumer by giving him/her a chance to return items that malfunction back to retailers hence, not losing out. As, for the retailer it ensures that he/she also returns back the same goods to the manufacturer or wholesaler, he/she also do not lose out. (Department of Trade Industry, 2005) Bait and switch advertising This law is not used when the retailer clearly indicates that there are a few items that are available, in such a case then the advert must indicate the number of items offered for sale. The act protects the customer from buying an item based on an advert which is false. Thus ensures that goods advertised are same as sold. To the retailer this is good because he will only advertise what he exactly has. Recording credit card numbers on checks In this law the retailer can request the buyer or the customer to show his/her credit card and then the retailer can record the card insurer and the expiring date. In case a buyer refuses to show his/her card, the retailer then can reject to accept the check. This law does not apply when a retailer has accepted to cash checks as an after sale service for issuer's cardholders in case the issuer of the credit card has accepted to assure payment for its cardholder's checks, or if the buyer having the card do accepts his/her credit card numbers to be recorded on the check. This is a very important act that protects the consumer from fraudulent retailers who can use the consumer credit card number to obtain money with fraudulent. However, for the retailer it will also save him/her from customers who may want to get goods or service with fraudulent means for example, using expired credit card. Sale of goods by description This act defines the rights of the consumer to presume goods to "conform to contract" and the consumer can look for redress if the goods bought are found not to conform to the description given about them. In the environment of phones, such description can appear on the phone's manuals or on an advert or may be communicating directly by sales managers. The customer who buys the phone will have the right to cancel a contract of the buying/ purchasing and return the phone in question if it didn't work as it was claimed. Unless the sales person - to whom the customer is legally contracted- unequivocal detached himself/herself from specific description of the phone before they entered into contract. This law stipulates that the seller is the one who is responsible if the goods do not conform to descriptions and not the manufacturer. The same situation applies to a wholesaler selling phones to the retailer. (Department of Trade Industry, 2005) Even where by description does not play an important part in contract of sale, the buyer's right still need to be protected by ways of reducing misrepresentation, if this can be termed as neglect, fraudulent or innocence. In addition, all retailers are supposed to sale goods which are of satisfactory quality to customers. "Satisfactory quality" is agree on by what an "average and reasonable person" will find agreeable given the particularly situations of the case, thus, this is a general issue of judgement and not application of particularly set of rules. In the case of phones, the main consideration will be fitness of the phone to the purpose, the appearance of the phone and the finish, free from minor defects, its safety and durability. Terms of satisfactory quality are not applicable if the buyer has analysed the goods in this case the phones, or a sample of the phone, before he/she made the purchase. The sale will not be reliable if he/she does not make any specific description of the goods being sold. (Department of Trade Industry, 2005) Retailers and manager nee to know the law For the purpose of running the business well without major complaints and disagreements arising from contract of sale between the retailer and the customer, the retailers or managers of shops must know this laws and acts. In knowing the law the retailer will be able to know the rights of the customer and protects them. At the same the times the retailer will be able to also know his/her rights and protect them. (Department of Trade Industry, 2005) Enforcing The body that is required to enforce this law is the government and especially the government bodies and agencies. They ensure that these laws are followed by taking those who breach them to the court of law. If the retailer is found quilt the he may be fined jailed or his licence withdrawn, this will depend on the extent of the breach of the retailer laws. (Goldring, 1990) If it is too minor he/ may just be warned. In case a customer also is found to breach the acts he can be sued and pay damages to the retailer. Conclusion Laws are important in business for both the retailer and the consumer. There ensure that each of them is protected and that the business is run in a fair and justified manner. For managers and retailers to be successful in their business they need to understand how the law works and abide to them. Proper contact of the retailers will go along way in creating success of the business. Failing to follow these laws leads to lawsuits, which may lead to fines, or jail term, jeopardizing the whole business. Retail laws are important and will remain relevant ensuring both consumers and retailers are protected (Goldring, 1990). References Department of Trade Industry - DTI (2005): The Law Relating to the Supply of Goods and Services, Retrieved from http://www.berr.gov.uk/files/file25486.pdf, Accessed on September 1, 2007 Goldring, J. (1990): Consumer Law & Legal Theory. Reflections of a Common Lawyer 13 J Consumer Policy 1 Read More