Last week, a Bill proposing alterations to consumer laws was accepted by Government, who wish to encourage spending in a bid to pick up Britain’s lagging economy. The laws are intended to make the rights of the shopper clearer when they wish to return faulty goods to a commercial property store or to an online retailer.
Currently, customers who return opened packaging containing faulty goods can be refused a full refund by a commercial property shop as they could argue that too much time had passed between the purchase and the return. However, under new laws, commercial property retailers will be bound to a 30 day “right of return” policy which guarantees safer shopping for consumers.
Additionally, items which have been bought in advance but prove faulty after a few days, such as baby clothes or a birthday gift, may also be exchanged in the commercial property shop from which they were bought; it was suggested in the Bill.
Chief executive of Citizens Advice, Gillian Guy, believes that these changes to the current law will make things clearer for both consumers and retailers to understand.
She says; “For too long, consumer law has been overly complex, making it difficult for people to make the most of their rights.
“We have to ensure that consumers’ needs are at the heart of any changes.”
However, it is not just in commercial property stores that consumers will receive protection by law. A whole section to the newly drafted law is dedicated to “digital content”, specifying the responsibilities of online retailers to their customers and explaining exactly what online shoppers are entitled to when returning faulty items purchased over the internet.
Until the Bill is formally passed by Government, the legislation on consumer rights will remain to be split across a dozen or so different laws as it has been for years, which studies have shown to make life confusing for consumers and sales assistants in commercial property shops alike.
For example, the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) – who brought the proposals for the change in the law in front of Parliament in the first place 
– found that a third of shoppers experience issues with items they buy from commercial property or online retailers every year. This includes goods proving to be faulty, clothing not fitting correctly due to mislabelling and other miscellaneous issues such as seals being broken on protected items.
Additionally, a Which? investigation into the retailing of electrical goods found that almost three quarters of commercial property sales assistants did not understand the laws regarding the return of faulty goods – and let’s face it, if they don’t understand them, what chance do the rest of us have?
Hopefully, the passing of the new Bill in the near future will encourage consumers to return to high street retail commercial properties and online shopping websites as a welcome boost to the economy. And, fingers crossed, they will be clear cut for both the consumer and the commercial property sales assistant to understand.
Do you struggle to understand your rights as a shopper? Have you ever tried to return a faulty item to a commercial property shop or online retailer only to be denied your rights as a consumer?
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