MSE News: Guest Comment: New measures give consumers more power to combat rogue trade 1 October 2014 at 9:17AM in Consumer Rights 5 replies 1.3K views

Former_MSE_Helen

Consumer Affairs Minister Jo Swinson explains what the Government is doing to crack down on rogue traders...

Read the full story:

Guest Comment: New measures give consumers more power to combat rogue traders




Click reply below to discuss. If you haven’t already, join the forum to reply. If you aren’t sure how it all works, read our New to Forum? Intro Guide.

ThumbRemote

It would be helpful for the article to contain some mention of what the new legislation actually is.

I assume this is referring to the Consumer Protection (Amendment) Regulations. There's a guide to them at https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/343753/bis-14-1430-misleading-and-aggressive-selling-rights-consumer-protection-amendment-regulations-2014-guidance.pdf

ThumbRemote

At first glance, it appears that the new regulations state what should happen if a retailer breaks the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008.

Consumers can now terminate the contract within 90 days. They can get a discount on the contract based on the seriousness. And they can claim damages for distress and inconvenience.

Cardew

I have heard, but not had it confirmed, that these new rules, with the 90 day provision to cancel, do not apply where the item(s) sold are specially made(bespoke) for the client.


Obviously that makes sense in some cases e.g. If I ordered some irregular shape windows of a special pattern that could not be used in another property.


However it seems some traders have anticipated, and devised a method, to circumvent the new rules.


There have been a couple of posts on MSE in recent days about salesmen selling very expensive electrical radiators/appliances. In each case the salesman has stated that the radiator will be 'specially designed and made' for the property and hence the cancellation i.e. cooling off period, regulations do not apply.


For years there have been long threads on MSE about expensive electrical heating systems, and until recently iirc the 'specially designed and made' clause was not included in the contract.

Voyager2002

If ANY contract could be cancelled within 90 days of purchase, ordinary business life would become impossible. Presumably the right to cancel refers only to cases of mis-selling.

Pincher

Rogue traders are like !!!! roaches, you stamp on one, there are ten million more.


The most I expect is consumer revenge !!!!!! movies.


Rambo returns a mobile phone.


Phones 4 Everybody gives him the run around, he encounters more victims in a similar boat, and the moral case becomes irrefutable. He wipes out the entire headquarters building, and kills the CEO, but not before he confesses that the private equity fund managers made him exploit the customers to squeeze the last drop out of the company. Climax in the Bahamas, where he bunker buster a 700 meter yacht party, full of amoral capitalists.