Legal consumer protection
Made by Sam and Rob
Sales of goods act
all goods must be:
- As described
- Of satisfactory quality
- Fit for purpose
If they're not, the retailer is in breach of contract and you will have a claim under the sales of goods act (1979)
This affects the selling of goods because companies can no longer sell false informed products to customers to benefit them as a company by saving money. This act will effect the design of the product because they cannot falsely advertise so they will have to include everything within the product on the packaging.
The trade descriptions act
The Trade Descriptions Act makes it an offence for a trader to make false or misleading statements about goods or services. It carries criminal penalties and is enforced by Trading Standards Officers, making it an offence for a trader to:
- apply a false trade description to any goods
- supply or offer to supply any goods to which a false trade description has been applied
- make certain kinds of false statement about the provision of any services, facilities or accommodation
This act effects the selling of goods in a good way for the customers because they will know everything that the package contains by looking at it rather than buying it then finding out. They will have to recruit staff to perform quality checks of the packaging to asssure the manafacturing processes are correct. when designing the product this act has to be taken into consideration as they need to include the correct description of the product on the packaging and needs to have a correct statement about the product.
Consumer credit act
This Act protects you when you borrow or buy on credit. The Consumer Credit Act states that:
- Businesses must have licences to give credit.
- No one under 18 is to be invited to borrow or buy on credit.
- Businesses have to state an Annual Percentage Rate (APR). If you sign a credit agreement at home you have several days in which you can tear up the agreement. This is called a 'cooling off period'.
This affects the selling of goods as they cannot aministrate credit cards to anyone under the age of 18 meaning they have a smaller customer range. A business can only sell their credit goods if they have a legal licence. The business will not be able to employ anyone under the age of 18 as the minimum age for credit is 18 years of age.
Weight and measures act
This act is all to do with meaking saure the measurements and weights in the goods sold are correct. for example making sure a pint served in a pub is exactly a pint. This is done so that the business is not ripping off the cosumer by under giving them for what they have paid for and also for the consumers saftey.
This effects the selling of goods as companys cannot mislead customers and trick them into buying something which they think is greater in order to make a better profit. this will effect the the product design as they will have to include correct measurments or for example in a pub they will have to have a line on the glass to show where a pint is poured to.