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Consumer law enforcement focus by Public Accounts Select Committee

Simon Weinberg — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 19:53:35 +0000

The Public Accounts Select Committee (PASC) has published a report on the enforcement of consumer law in the UK which records the losses suffered by consumers and lists recommendations for improvements. The PASC found that consumers in the UK are suffering losses of about £6.6 billion due to defective or faulty goods and fraud, whether online or offline.

The report concludes that the current consumer protection system in the UK is ‘incoherent and fragmented’, and that many of the rogue traders fall between the gaps between local authority enforcement bodies. The recommendations include:

- listing strict obligations and responsibilities for consumer protection bodies to ensure a clear framework of accountability;

- ensure funding is spread appropriately between local authorities to avoid gaps in protection;

- ensure that enforcement bodies have sufficient awareness of new forms of consumer harm; and

clear enforcement obligations and support for large scale investigations and court proceedings.

ASDA ad complaint upheld for suggesting that consumers having 100 day guarantee was additional to their legal rights

Mark Weston — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 16:21:49 +0000

The Advertising Standards Authority has upheld a complaint that ASDA’s advert was misleading because it was highlighting the benefits to consumers of its 100 day guarantee. It was misleading because consumers had up to six years at law to make a complaint if a product did not comply with statutory rights under the Sale of Goods Act to be of satisfactory quality. Whether or not clothes should last six years is another matter, because the Act says that the products should only have to last as long as they are expected to last (rather than six years). In any event, though, the onus is on the seller in the first six months after purchase to prove that the goods were of satisfactory quality when they were purchased.

The ASA acknowledged that ASDA applied the 100 day guarantee to the goods whether they were faulty or not and therefore this did go beyond the consumer’s rights at law for non-faulty goods, but this had not been made clear from the advert. Accordingly, ASDA had breached the Broadcasting Code of Practice and was ordered not to repeat the ad in that form.

European Commission wants to push ahead with Consumer Rights Directive

Paul Gershlick — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 19:45:17 +0000

The European Commission has signalled its intent to push forward with its proposed Consumer Rights Directive. Viviane Reding, the Justice, Fundamental Rights and Citizenship Commissioner, would like to have a single set of rules that relate to consumer rights. This is all part of her plan to make the EU more harmonised and reduce barriers to trade. However, the position has been criticised by certain consumer rights groups, as the effect of the law would be to give a set of maximum standards, thus lowering the current protection offered to consumers. Based on statements so far, a standardised set of consumer laws across the EU would remove the rights that consumers currently have to reject faulty goods. The proposals are still a considerable way away from becoming law, but the developments are worth monitoring

Apple agrees to change Terms and Conditions to comply with consumer contracts laws

Mark Weston — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 21:44:43 +0000

Apple Inc has agreed to the Office of Fair Trading’s request to change its terms and conditions in order to comply with the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999. The 1999 Regulations require contract terms with consumers to be in plain English and not create a significant imbalance between the consumer’s position and the supplier’s. Apple agreed to change the terms that applied to people purchases on its iTunes stores and software downloads. It agreed to ensure its terms:

did not exclude liability for faulty or mis-described goods;
were consistent with consumer rights under the Distance Selling Regulations;
were drafted in plain and intelligible language;
did not allow changes to be made after agreements had been made.