Ms Bergin Cheat Sheet for revision: JC Business Sale of Goods and Supply of Services Act 1980 This act aims to protect the consumer by ensuring the Retailers follow certain rules: 1. Goods must be of merchantable Quality. ie good quality. 2. Goods must be Fit for purpose. ie a waterproof coat must be waterproof. 3.Goods must match the description in a brochure or by a sales person. eg a brochure cannot describe the hotel as being beside the beach when its actually 3 KM away. 4.Goods must match the sample if sold by sample. eg wooden flooring When Supplying a Service: eg installing central heating 5.The person supplying the service must be qualified and skilled, must use good quality materials and do the job properly. 3 Solutions/Remedies if you buy faulty Goods: 1. A refund: you get your money back. 2. A replacement product. 3. A repair of the product Consumer Protection Act 2007 The Consumer Protection Act 2007 protects consumers against false or misleading claims about goods, services and prices. The National Consumer Agency now CCPC can prosecute offenders under this Act. Main provisions(rules) are: 1. It set up the National Consumer Agency now known as CCPC 2. Goods must not be falsely described, eg, saying a car had one previous owner when it had 3. 3. Services must not be falsely described, eg. deliver to all areas but they only deliver within 1km. 4. If the product/service is reduced in price, eg. Was €50 now €30, the product must have been on sale for €50 for 28 consecutive days in the last 3 months. 5. It protects consumers against the following: - Prize draws scams. eg. having a competition but not giving the prize. - Making false claims about the price and availability of a product/service. - Putting pressure on a consumer to buy a product/service - Making it difficult to end a contract or switch to another provider. Letter of Complaint Layout: Senders' Address Receivers' Address Date: Re: Ipad purchased on 2/2/2015 Dear Mr Carroll I am writing to you in connection with........... Explain your complaint....what happened... Which act was broken...Sale of Goods and Supply of services act 1980, consumer protection Act 2007 What remedy/solution would you like..... Your sincerely Name Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC)-took over role of NCA , They: 1 Ms Bergin Cheat Sheet for revision: JC Business 1. Enforcing consumer protection law 2. Informing consumers about their rights 3. Personal finance information and education 4. Enforcing product safety regulation 5. Enforcing competition law (The National Consumer Agency (NCA) was a statutory body enforcing consumer protection in Ireland from 2007 to 2014, when it amalgamated with the Competition Authority to form the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission.) Consumer Association of Ireland – www.consumerassociation.ie Give advice and help for members through monthly magazine, Consumer Choice. Small Claims Court -– The aim of the small claims procedure court) is to provide an inexpensive, fast and easy way for consumers and businesses to resolve disputes without the need to employ a solicitor with consumer claims of up to €2,000, The current fee for making a claim through the small claims procedure is €25. Trade Associations – set standards for their own members which ensure that consumers will get the best possible service. Eg The Society of the Irish Motor Industry. (SIMI) https://sites.google.com/a/cmco.ie/juniorcertbusiness/theconsumer Receipt: is written proof that the customer bought and paid for a product. Food Labels: Contain information about the product, eg product name, manufacturer's name, a list of ingredients, weight of product, cooking instructions, bar code. Bar Code: The bar code when scanned contains information about the product name, price and weight. The checkout can read this information and some information appears on the receipt. Below cost selling: is when shops sell products cheaply,.. below cost price. They do this to encourage people into the shop in the hope that they will buy other products too. Known as Loss Leaders. Online Consumer: Buying Online If you buy something from a website in the EU and it turns out to be faulty. You have the same rights as if you had bought it in a shop. Before you complete purchase, the seller must give you information: 1. The name and address of supplier 2.Description of what you are buying, including the price 3. Delivery costs, arrangements for payment. 4. How to cancel your order. 5.Details of what to do if you change your mind and a copy of the form for returning goods. 6. The seller must tell you 'if you change your mind' option, Known as ‘cooling off’ period doesn’t apply. The cooling off period…..When you buy online, you are given a cooling off period of 14 days. Before the end of the 14 days, (change of mind) you can cancel the order and get a refund. You must return the goods. http://www.consumerhelp.ie/your-rights-online 2