Consumer Protection in the United Kingdom - Essay Example

Consumer Protection Introduction The modern era has been christened the consumer era due to the emergence of various laws and acts aimed at ensuring that the consumer’s rights are protected. Today, no country or economic grouping can knowingly or otherwise ignore the rights and needs of the consumers and still compete favorably with other countries. A number of consumer protection laws have been enactment in different parts of the world including the United Kingdom, the United States and the emerging economies in Asia and Africa (Jay & Clarke, 2010). In the United Kingdom, a number of acts of parliament have been established to ensure the protection of the consumers and ensure that government agencies follow established standards. The English tort and the English contract law were the first established acts that were established to ensure the consumer protection in the country remain stable. A number of departments have also been established including the department of trade, industry, price, and consumer protection. The establishment of European community’s act of 1972 also enhanced the country’s effort to protect the consumers from illegal and exploitative business practices (Jay & Clarke, 2010). Despite the massive development in consumer protection law in the United Kingdom, the effort to protect consumers from poor processed products and exploitative business practices has met a number of challenges. In this paper, the challenges of the efforts adopted in the United Kingdom to protect the consumers will be discussed. The paper will also highlight the methods that are used by the consumer rights bills to overcome consumer protection challenges (Cartwright, 2008). Challenges of the consumer rights bill The consumer rights bill was recently introduced to the United Kingdom parliament for deliberation, enhancement and possible adoption after passing through the House of Lords. This bill is believed to have the power to streamline the consumer protection efforts in the country and update retrogressive consumer protection laws. Based on the consumer rights bill, consumers have core rights, which must be respected by other businesses and legal entities in the country. These include the right to be paid and enjoy goods and services which meets the established standards. Consumers also have the right to fault the products and services they buy and to expect a refund or replacement in the event that the producer is at fault. The consumer rights bill is currently before the House of Lords in the country’s legislature and expected to be ratified and adopted by the country. Despite the strong statement that the bill provides on consumer protection issues, it has a number of challenges, which will affect its ability to protect the consumers and ensure a leveled playing ground (Olinger & Marlin, 2010). The enforcement of the consumer rights bill is dependent on part eight of the enterprise act of 2002, a legislation that has been faulted for its failure to ensure double ended benefits for all parties. Part 8 of the enterprise act highlight the consumer’s position in contract situations and this explains the current codification by the consumer rights bill of 2014. Though part 8 has been considered as great consumer protection tool, previous manipulation by traders has affected its ability to ensure that the rights of the consumers are enforced. Lack of a civil enforcement culture has affected the successful enforcement of the enterprise act of 2002 and this portends a negative trend for the consumer rights bill should it be introduced. Consumer laws are legislative laws developed to regulate the relationship between consumers and businesses and ensure that fair play and good business practices are adopted. The development of consumer laws in the United States seeks to cover different areas within business practice including privacy violation, fraud and the use of unfair business practices that result into unwarranted competitive advantage. The development of consumer laws in the United States occurs at both federal and state levels. Different government agencies and state law organs have been established to oversee the process of implementing the consumer laws and ensure that enforcement is effectively accomplished (Markou, 2014). Disclosure also remains a major issue that will affect the successful implementation of the consumer rights bill once it is introduced in the United Kingdom. This bill gives consumers the right to redress which will enable them to access information that is held by the bill enforcers in situations where they need to support their cases. This is the most likely situation in the event that class related actions are instituted against a producer or retailer based on the provisions of the consumer right bill (Jance, Tiri & Sinjari, 2013). Lack of adequate procedure in the process of seeking the right information from bill enforcers affects the level of understanding of the consumers. In most instances, consumers suffer due to ignorance when information on consumer protection and rights provided by the consumer rights bill are readily available. The enforcement of the consumer rights bill is dependent on part eight of the enterprise act of 2002, a legislation that has been faulted for its failure to ensure double-ended benefits for all parties. Part 8 of the enterprise act highlight the consumers position in contract situations and this explains the current codification by the consumer rights bill of 2014 (Mai, 2013). Enhanced consumer measures also viewed as a threat to the successful implementation of the consumer rights bill and by extension, the efforts to protect the consumers. These efforts are enforced by consumer protection departments or labor courts and aimed at enhancing the safety of the consumers. The undertaking by the enforcers of the consumer protection processes is only based on goodwill and/or the imposition by the courts to implement the provisions of the bill. The view of what is just and reasonable before the consumer rights bill will remain controversial and this will present an opportunity to unscrupulous businesses to exploit (Cartwright, 2001). Issues of redress may arise and this will present two unique challenges to the implementation of the consumer rights bill. First, in the event there the consumer incurs a loss, the cost of the measures adopted by the trader is less likely to be higher as compared to the losses suffered by the consumers. This provision provides a major difficulty as far as implementation and assessment of enforcement is concerned. A lot of time will be spent due to the large workload and lack of adequate ECM measures used to determine the exact level of losses (Thickett & Ray, 2014). Unscrupulous traders will also be able to engage the bull enforcers and purport to debate on the issue surrounding the effectiveness of the ECM while implementing poor standard and exploitative policies. Engagement in a protracted discussion with the enforcers over the ECM and the consumer rights bill is aimed at lengthening the implementation of the consumer protection bill in the United Kingdom (Shears, 2013). Extending the debate on the enforcement of the ECM and other consumer protection bill will prolong the time taken to grant relief to the consumers. In such a situation, labor courts have ruled in favor of businesses, arguing that if the enforcer has previously engaged the traders in developing a common ground, then an urgent order cannot be granted. This affects the implementation of any new law such as the consumer rights bill that is currently debated before the House of Lords in the United Kingdom (Henry, 2010). Consumer rights bill and consumer protection Addressing consumer protection shortcomings through the use of consumer rights bill The introduction of the consumer rights bill into the United Kingdom parliament is aimed at remedying the consumer protection challenges that have affected the United Kingdom in various ways. Despite the strengths of the previous laws and acts, the United Kingdom has faced challenges implementing its consumer protection laws. Traders have used issues associated with the ECM and engagement with the enforcers to extend complaints and use court injunctions to justify their unscrupulous deeds. However, such challenges led to the introduction of the consumer rights bill, which is believed to have the ability to eliminate some of the challenges, associated with previous consumer protection laws (Thickett & Ray, 2014). First, the bill highlights the need to reduce the length of engagement between the traders and the ECM to enhance the process of consumer protection in the country. Though these amendments are targeting all traders, digital content suppliers and those who enter into distant contracts with consumers are the main target. Such contracts include those made within the internet, over telephone conversation, face-to-face and even within business premises (Henry, 2010). As a result, no individual should be discriminated based on other factors apart from their credit worthiness. The only basis for the refusal of credit based on this act is an individual financial capability and credit history. Consumers are exposed to a number of challenges when it comes to dealing with producers and service providers in the country. The main tenet in most business is the maximization of profits, a goal that when pursued blindly can lead to the exploitation of the consumers (Wilson & Cochrane, 2012). To enhance the protection of consumers, the consumer rights bill of 2013-2014 has a consumer contracts regulation aimed at protecting consumers who engage in business contracts with traders. The introduction of this regulation follows the consumer rights directive of the European Union, which required all members of the EU to implement the directive by June 2014 (Crawford, 2014). This provision aims at protecting consumers from all types of traders who enter into long or short-term contracts with the aim of purchasing goods and services from the traders. However, the regulation focuses on the protection of consumers who acquire products from traders through the internet or any other long distance means such as through telephone conversation. The regulation also targets the protection of consumers who acquire products in an environment different from the actual physical location of a business otherwise known as off-premise contracts (Thickett & Ray, 2014). The consumer rights bill ensures that traders provide adequate information to consumers with the pre-contractual information to inform their decisions of whether to buy the products. This is aimed at enhancing consumer access to information and ensuring that consumers are not duped into substandard products. In situations where off premise contracts are used, the trader is under legal obligation to provide ensure the consumer that all information included in the pre-contract agreement are within the final contracts. This is aimed at reducing post contract complaints from consumers who feel cheated into buying products, which are different from the initial contract agreement (Wilson & Cochrane, 2012). The consumer rights bill also intends to improve consumer protection during distant order placement especially using the internet or other electronic means. In such a situation, the trade is under legal obligation to ensure that order button is clearly labeled and the details of the products included. For example, the button may include phrases such as ‘order with the obligation to pay’ in order to protect the interest of both the consumer and the traders (Henry, 2010). For contracts made over the internet or off premise contractual agreement, traders must provide a period when consumers are allowed to voluntarily cancel a previously ordered product. The cancellation right protects the consumers from receiving products they believe are faulty or fails to meet the needs and desire for which the product is ordered. In situations where cancellation rights exist for the consumers, the law makes it mandatory for the trader to provide cancellation form and such a document must fall within the regulations of the act. In the event that the consumer cancels the product after making payment, a refund must be made and this is provided by the regulation. This ensures that consumers who cancel their purchases before receiving the final product are refunded their money without any charges or surcharges (Wilson & Cochrane, 2012). The law covered the protection of those who purchase goods and services using the debit cards, the ATMs and doing automatic bank withdrawals. In these transactions, errors are bound to occur that creates loopholes for the loss of funds. This act provides mechanisms for the process of correcting the errors and eliminating any losses (Shears, 2013). The growth of the use of ATMs and electronic fund transfers in the 70s led to the introduction of the electronic funds transfer act. Based on this act, the consumers have the right to nominate their financial institution of choice and prohibit financial institutions from using the electronic funds transfer approach in the repayment of the credit. Conclusion The consumer rights bill has been introduced into the United Kingdom parliament to enhance the issue of consumer protection in the country. Despite the development of other laws in the previous past, the country has met significant challenges due to the loopholes that traders have exploited. In this paper, the previous challenges of consumer protection have been highlighted to demonstrate the need for further safeguards. This explains the need for introducing a strong consumer protection act under the consumer rights bill aimed at enhancing consumer protection in the country. References Cartwright, P., 2001, Consumer protection and the criminal law: law, theory, and policy in the UK / Peter Cartwright, New York: Cambridge University Press. Cartwright, P., 2008, Corporate fault and consumer protection: A new approach for the UK, Journal of Consumer Policy, 21, 1, pp. 71-89. Crawford, R., 2014, Consumer Rights Bill to impact salary sacrifice benefits, Employee Benefits, p. 6. Henry, P., 2010, How mainstream consumers think about consumer rights and responsibilities, Journal Of Consumer Research, 37, 4, pp. 670-687. Jance, K, Tiri, E, & Sinjari, S., 2013, Consumer protection in the European Union and Albania, International Journal of Management Cases, 15, 3, pp. 148-153. Jay, R, & Clarke, J 2010, Data protection compliance in the UK: a pocket guide, Ely: IT Governance Pub. 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