When did the protection act first start?
The Trade Descriptions Act was first introduced to the uk in
1968. The Act was brought in to protect consumers when
purchasing products and services. The Trade Description
Act stipulates numerous different regulations that traders
must adhere to when carrying out their activities. In general
the Act states that traders must not mislead consumers. For
example when a trader is describing a product or service
they must be accurate in the description that they make.
Therefore they must not be false advertising as this is
breaking the protection act law. Here is an example:
This is false
advertising!
When was the latest trade descriptions act?
In 2010 the Trade Descriptions Act was updated to
include modern equivalents to terms implemented into
the Act in 1968. This legislation is managed on a local
level and consumers are within their rights to report
any company that they feel has broken the regulations.
On a local level the Act is monitored and enforced by
the local Trading Standards unit, which is usually part
of the local authority. Traders that are found to have
broken the regulations are likely to face prosecution.
How did trade description act effect the beauty
business?
It affected the beauty industry a lot as therapist’s try and
attract more and more customers everyday by
presenting their treatments in the best way possible by
using big words that sound appealing to everyone
however it’s very important that they don’t false
advertise and say things that are not possible. For
example saying that having an electrical facial treatment
will have you leaving the salon looking 10 years younger
clearly isn’t possible however it may result in bits of the
face looking younger for a short period of time e.g. it will
bring the blood to the surface leaving the face looking
more radiant, leaving the client with a healthy glow. This
may reduce a few years but certainly not 10.
How non-compliance would effect the business?
If they didn’t follow the rules of this protection act you
would be breaking the law but also you are putting
the business in a bad position, making it look
unprofessional. Also the client will have high
expectations and by not succeeding them you will
get client complaints as well as a loss in clients. The
clients would keep getting let down and wouldn’t be
getting their money worth in the treatments. This
could end up in them suing you.
Resulting in the false assumptions not being worth
the hassle, its more important to get the information
correct and then re-word things to make them sound
more appealing.
Evaluate the effect of your act or regulation on
beauty related industries?
In conclusion to the protection act affecting on the
beauty industry, I would say that the trade description
act is correct because if you’re giving out false
information whether it is indirect or direct you will be
breaking the law however by being aware that you
cannot do these things you’re preventing yourself from
having the risk. Therefore this protecting act is helping
business women understand what you can and cannot
do when owning your own business.
Websites I found helpful:
• http://www.tradedescriptionsact.co.uk/c
ontent/trade-descriptions-act-201010.html