Understanding your Rights as a Consumer

Article Written By: Tony Bright

All of us are consumer sand we will easily be able to recollect situations when we have been wronged by retailers. They may have made empty promises about their products or services, charged extremely high price for a substandard product, sold a faulty product and never returned calls. Often we feel helpless in these situations and let the retailers have their way. Most of us just stop going to them again and warn others of the poor services or products.

Very few people seek recourse using their consumer rights and try to get what is rightfully theirs in the eyes of the law. Every nation has laws protecting consumers from unscrupulous vendors and companies that try to take advantage of customers. Many of us think that it is too much trouble and it is not for them and leave these things to consumer bodies and government organisations. This happens mainly because of ignorance regarding consumer rights. Most people receive very little education regarding consumer rights and statutory rights. However, we cannot simply blame the system. Ultimately, we pay the price so we should take initiative to understand our rights as a consumer. There are many resources available online that will educate us in dealing with retailers and service providers who take advantage of our ignorance in terms of our rights and privileges.

To have a valid claim based on your consumer rights you must be a consumer who purchased a product or a service for personal use and not for business use. Consumers should not be intimidated by the size of the business that they are dealing with, as consumer law does not take into consideration the size of the business.

Your statutory rights are provided by civil law. However, much of the consumer protection law is criminal law. If the trader that you are dealing with has committed a criminal offence, you will not be able to make a civil claim. It is the responsibility of relevant authorities to take action.

Never approach the courts before understanding your rights clearly. This will save you a lot of time and it will save you from unnecessary stress. Before taking any action approach the dealer first and if necessary lodge a formal complaint. If they continue to ignore your complaint, you can then escalate it to the courts or a relevant trade body or ombudsman.

About the Author

Tony Bright is author of this article on Statutory Rights. Find more information about Consumer Rights here.

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This Article Has Been Published on Sat, 27 Dec 2008 and Read 211 Times

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