Five consumer laws you really ought to know

by The_Cynic | September 14, 2009 at 06:21 pm

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These are, of course, UK consumer laws - but read through them anyway.

To mark National Consumer Week, here are five laws the canny shopper should be using in their battle to get stuff that actually works.

SALE OF GOODS ACT

The Headline: You might not need that five-year extended warranty after all.

The Scenario: Your iconic white MP3 player, the totemic centre of your life, breaks down precisely 366 days after you bought it. The large electronics firm that sold you the MP3 player says that because the one-year guarantee had elapsed, there's nothing they can do to help you. You'll just have to buy another one.

Tears drip disconsolately on to its lifeless grey screen as you ponder what to do.

But there's some good news. The operative who spoke to you didn't know what they were talking about

Yep, that's right - they are clueless - the thing has to work, and if it doesn't - you get your money back. Goods in the UK are covered by this law up to six years.

CONSUMER CREDIT ACT

The Headline: Your credit card provider is often liable.

The Scenario: You've picked your dream sofa. It's an astoundingly cheap £500, you paid by credit card, and you're very excited. The day of delivery arrives but no sofa materialises. You switch on the news and see Astonishinglycheapsofas'r'us has gone bust. It turns out £500 was too cheap for a quality sofa. They've been losing money hand over fist.

You ring the company and an exasperated worker is rather unhelpful. They tell you're not going to get your sofa or your money back. It's all gone to the liquidators to pay the many creditors.

You quietly burst into tears. No sofa and your £500 is gone.

Well - no! Because you're using a credit card - the law looks at this as if the bank has sold you the sofa - so they're liable from 100 quid to 30,000 quid.

SUPPLY OF GOODS AND SERVICES ACT

The Headline: Services are like goods.

The Scenario: The garage repairs your car. You get it out on the road and three days later the same fault crops up again. The garage refuses to redo the work or compensate you, saying it's all a matter of opinion

Well, that's another no-no. You have the right to make sure that service is reasonable. The garage has to make it right or they pay for someone else to do it.

DENIED BOARDING REGULATIONS

The Headline: Airlines cannot mess you around with impunity.

The Scenario: A budget airline, Acme Airlines we'll call them, cancels your flight to a historic eastern European capital. Oh, and it's not going to compensate you either.

WHAT!? Don't panic - they cannot do that! Airlines don't like it but the EU made sure you get reimbursement of the cost of the ticket. Add to that they also have to feed and water you with accommodation.

DISTANCE SELLING REGULATIONS

The Headline: When it comes to buying over the web, you're allowed to change your mind

Scenario:

You buy an iconic white MP3 player from an online retailer as a birthday treat for yourself and, stone the crows, your aunt has only gone and bought you an iconic white MP3 player herself.

Yours is unopened so you try and return it, but the online retailer refuses to give you a refund.

Nope - that's not right either! You have a "cooling off period of 7 days which means you can return the goods as long as you return them as is, or that you have made sure you have made every effort to return them as best quality.

This is all a call or letter away - if companies don't adhere to the law you do have the Small claims court. And in these cases you win.

Big government, eh?

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