Have you ever been lured into purchasing a gorgeous looking (or sounding) product from a catalogue and then been horrified when it arrives and barely resembles the description of what you’ve ordered?

Luckily, this will be a thing of the past once the Consumer Protection Act comes into effect in October 2010, as suppliers will have an obligation to deliver goods that match the sample or description of the product.

Question of the Week: Do consumers have a right to choose or examine goods before purchasing them?
Yes they do. If an item is displayed or sold from open stock, consumers have the right to select or reject any particular item before completing the transaction.

What you need to know:

• A consumer is not responsible for any loss or damage to goods displayed by a supplier unless the loss or damage results from negligence, recklessness, malicious behaviour or criminal conduct.
• If the consumer has agreed to buy something on the basis of a description or sample, the goods must correspond in all material respects and characteristics with this description or sample.

Interesting Fact
If a supply of goods is by sample as well as by description, the article purchased needs to match up to both. In other words, it is not sufficient for the goods to correspond with the sample if they do not also correspond with the description [Ch 2, Part C].

Click here to find out more about the Consumer Protection Act.