Would you find more info about your shopping rights useful at the time you’re buying?

Former_MSE_Wendy · 27 July 2015 at 2:09PM

Hi all

Our consumer rights are changing slightly later this year. To help both shoppers and stores know what the rights are, and how to get help if needed, the government is testing to see if information at the 'point of sale' (eg, a till or online checkout) would be useful.

Share you views by taking its super quick survey by Friday 7 August and let us know what you think by replying below.

The survey opens in a new tab so you can easily refer to the example below when answering the questions (click the picture to see other examples for England and Wales).

And here's an explanation from the government on why it wants your help:

Consumer Rights Act: Point of Sale information

The Consumer Rights Act comes into force on 1 October. The Government believes the real benefits from the Act will not be realised unless the new rights are well understood and used by both consumers and traders.

To help consumers understand and use their rights, we have worked closely with business groups and consumer groups, to develop a plain English summary of key elements of the Act. The ‘point of sale’ information has been designed to help consumers know their new consumer rights, taking into account the different circumstances in which they may apply – such as buying goods in a shop or online.

Traders are not required to display the ‘point of sale’ information by law but we believe both traders and consumers will welcome this tool to minimise confusion and unnecessary disputes for both parties.

It is worth noting that the design is a basic layout and it may be presented differently by each trader.

Before the Act comes into force, we are testing the ‘point of sale’ information to ensure it is fit for purpose. It would be really helpful if you could participate in this testing by completing this short survey by Friday 7 August.

Plus see the business version of the survey in our Small Biz & Charities board.

agrinnall · 27 July 2015 at 6:02PM

While I haven't done any more than glance at it yet myself, the legislation is here:

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2015/15/contents/enacted

sjbrun · 27 July 2015 at 6:04PM

Looks good for small companies to put up, but for a lot of big companies their return poicy is a lot better than above so to show that and then say actually we do better will show confusion.

It may be better if shopping centres put it up or town centres rather than the shops themselves.

System · 27 July 2015 at 6:41PM

Is the third point not misleading?

The explanatory notes give some detail.. http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2015/15/notes/division/3

105.Under the law of England and Wales and of Northern Ireland, claims for breach of contract are subject to a limitation period of six years from the date of the breach of contract, whereas in Scottish law the limitation period is five years. Because the protections provided under this Part of the Act operate on the basis of contract law, the consumer has 6 years (or 5 years in Scotland) within which they may pursue remedies for breach of one of the statutory rights. This does not mean that a consumer may seek a remedy under the Act for any fault arising in goods at any time in the six (or five) years following delivery, but only if one of the statutory rights is breached. The statutory right under section 9 (goods to be of satisfactory quality) will only be breached if goods are not of the standard which a reasonable person would consider to be satisfactory, taking into account circumstances including the price and any description given. This test of reasonableness is provided under section 9(2). For example, the statutory right may not be breached and so a consumer would not be able to obtain a remedy if, say, a very cheap kettle stopped working fully after four years, as a reasonable person might not expect a bottom of the range kettle to last that long.

The limitation as I understand it is you have six years to claim from the point of the breach. Say I had some roof work done, with a 10 year guarantee, and after eight years it starts to leak. The roofer refuses to fix it, and has at this point breached the contract. I now have six years from now (14 total years after the work was done) to pursue a claim. Why it would take me six years to pursue the issue is another matter. But I am still covered after the initial six years from the work being done.

neilmcl · 27 July 2015 at 8:27PM

TBH, I'd doubt the majority of customers would actually read such notices.

unholyangel · 27 July 2015 at 9:08PM

mutzi wrote: »

Is the third point not misleading?

The explanatory notes give some detail.. http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2015/15/notes/division/3

The limitation as I understand it is you have six years to claim from the point of the breach. Say I had some roof work done, with a 10 year guarantee, and after eight years it starts to leak. The roofer refuses to fix it, and has at this point breached the contract. I now have six years from now (14 total years after the work was done) to pursue a claim. Why it would take me six years to pursue the issue is another matter. But I am still covered after the initial six years from the work being done.

You're technically right - it is 6 years from breach. But it doesn't require awareness/discovery. In the case of goods that are inherently faulty, the breach usually happens upon delivery of the goods - since they delivered goods that didnt conform to contract at the time of delivery but it just wasn't apparent at that point.

In contrast, the scottish limitation period (or prescription period rather) doesn't start until you become aware (or should have reasonably been aware) that you had suffered a loss.

SuperHan · 27 July 2015 at 9:32PM

neilmcl wrote: »

TBH, I'd doubt the majority of customers would actually read such notices.

No, but it would be good to refer to in the instances where the consumer incorrectly argues their rights.

Mistral001 · 29 July 2015 at 9:37AM

I think it is a good idea as many consumers presently have a false perception about consumer rights, especially with regard to repair of goods which develop a fault.

G6JPG · 29 July 2015 at 1:47PM

The "repair" section should ideally say something about how long any repair should take, and that (if this is the case, is it?) your rights should extend by any repair time.

At least should mostly kill off the "extended guarantee" ripoff market!

happyinflorida · 29 July 2015 at 4:25PM

Yes it would be a good idea to have this displayed at the desks where shops insist you go to for a refund or whatever so that 1 - the customer becomes informed & 2 - the staff become informed, because there is a big problem with many staff refusing to give customers their legal rights!

unholyangel · 29 July 2015 at 5:18PM

happyinflorida wrote: »

Yes it would be a good idea to have this displayed at the desks where shops insist you go to for a refund or whatever so that 1 - the customer becomes informed & 2 - the staff become informed, because there is a big problem with many staff refusing to give customers their legal rights!

Part of the reason the legislation is being simplified (or at least part of the reason specified in the consultation papers) was to reduce the costs of training staff in consumer rights.

How you can reduce a cost which isnt being spent in the first place is beyond me. Companies may train their staff in company policy, but very few seem to receive training in consumer rights.

I wouldn't expect them to be trained to expert level, just the basics with managers being trained further. Much like licensing legislation requires that anyone serving alcohol must pass a "test" showing that they understand the legislation surrounding the sale of alcohol.

Would you find more info about your shopping rights useful at the time you’re buying?

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