Consumer+Protection

=**What rights do I have as a consumer to return goods and services? **= Under consumer law (Consumer Guarantees Act 1993) you as a consumer (a person who acquires goods or services of a kind ordinarily acquired for personal, domestic or household use or consumption) have the right to return any good or service for a refund, repair or replacement if it does not comply with the Consumer Guarantees Act. If the consumer does not want to repair the item or will not do so within a reasonable time you can get the item repaired elsewhere and charge the cost to the supplier of the item. If the item cannot be repaired then the consumer has the right to get a replacement or refund and get compensatory damages.

 These guarantees are: Consumers Guarantees Act 1993 S[|5] [|Guarantees as to title] S[|6] [|Guarantee as to acceptable quality] S[|8] [|Guarantees as to fitness for particular purpose] S[|9] [|Guarantee that goods comply with description] S[|10] [|Guarantee that goods comply with sample] S[|11] [|Guarantee as to price] S[|12] [|Guarantee as to repairs and spare parts] S28 [|Guarantee as to reasonable care and skill] S[|29] [|Guarantee as to fitness for particular purpose] S[|30] [|Guarantee as to time of completion] S[|31] [|Guarantee as to price]

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The consumer guarantees act applies to goods and services bought for personal or household use. For example Goods such as clothes, food, electrical appliances and furniture would be under this guarantee as well as services such as Pluming, Repairs, Banking, and dry-cleaning. It may also include telecommunications, plants and trees, second-hand goods and the removal of waste water. It also applies to goods and services sold on credit and goods for hire. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Business’s may have warranty’s and return policies but these have no effect if the product sold does not comply with the consumer guarantees act as the act is law and you cannot contract out of the consumers guarantees act. The business’s return policies are to coincide with the consumers guarantees act if not then where they differ the guarantees act will take over.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">For example: <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Say you bought a pair of shoes from a store and their return policy is that you cannot return your shoes after a month of purchase, but you don’t wear the shoes for 2 months after the purchase and when you final put them on they fall apart, so you take them back and the manager says you cannot return them because of their policy they will be breaking the Consumers Guarantees Act as the shoes were not made to an acceptable quality (S6) and they must replace, repair or refund them.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">There are a few exceptions to the guarantee these are from section 41 of the consumer guarantees act.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The exceptions are: <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">That if the goods or services are supplied other then in trade the guarantees act shall not apply. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">That if the goods or services are supplied by a charitable organisation to benefit the person whom they supplied to, then they do not have the right of redress against the charitable organisation. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The guarantees act shall not apply to any goods supplied under auction or competitive tender.