back to menuNew powers to protect consumers from bogus international prize draws, holidays from hell and' similar scams came into force on the 1st June. The ‘Stop Now Orders' will allow UK consumer protection bodies to take out court injunctions. Failure to comply will be treated as contempt of court and punishable by an unlimited fine or imprisonment. The Orders can be used against web sites that accept payments but never deliver, and competitions that promise valuable prizes provided you send an "administration fee" of £20 or so. It may put an end to car dealers advertising false mileage figures, deliberately inaccurate tourist brochures or timeshares, and cowboy builders that call on the elderly, touting for often unnecessary work and failing to mention their cancellation rights. Ten areas of complaint have been identified which are covered by the orders.
The Ramblers' Association has finally won its notorious case where Nicholas van Hoogstraten blocked a footpath on his land. He was found guilty but failed to clear the blockage and persuaded the local Council to look at a divergence for the footpath. The Association returned to court and secured a further conviction. This time the magistrates were able to order the removal of the obstruction within a specified period of time under the new Countryside and Rights of Way Act. The path is still blocked, says the Association.
The NfCG Legislation Committee has been concerned about the difficulty of obtaining car licences from post offices in rural areas. A reply from the Minister responsible shows that the facility is limited to 4,000 post offices nationally. Only when one closes is a new office appointed. "The extra costs of extending the facility to a larger number of post offices would not be offset by an increase in the licence revenues collected. The correct geographical spread of the 4,000 post offices issuing motor vehicle licences means that, nationally, over 90% of the population live within 2 miles of such an office". We wonder what the distances are in rural areas? Commercial considerations seem to override convenience to the public.
A member and his wife touring the Cotswolds requested a glass of water while lunching in a restaurant. He says, "To my astonishment this was refused on the grounds, apparently, that they needed to sell bottled water in order to maintain an adequate profit margin. This was the first time in my 74 years that I had been refused a glass of tap water." Correspondence with tourist boards showed there is no legal obligation on a restaurateur to provide tap water. Sometimes this and a bread roll are included in a ‘cover charge'. I a charge was made what would be a fair price, 5p or 10p? We also heard about a UK entertainment complex and a foreign hotel where bottles of water were confiscated at the door forcing thirsty patron: to buy it inside at high prices. Restaurants are also notorious for their mark-up on bottled water.
"Government gives a low priority to consume protection" states a paper presented to the Legislation Committee. NfCG has always opposed prepayments or deposits unless there is adequate protection for the consumer. We have publicised cases where elderly consumers have lost hundred; of pounds they could not afford when furniture firm; went into liquidation before the prepaid goods were received. Too often a company takes advance payments and yet pays its own suppliers in arrears using the deposits as working capital. A recent case involved an overpayment which was disputed several months before a power company went into receivership, and has now been lost. We consider the matter should be covered in Codes of Practice and accounts set up to hold the money until the goods are despatched to the customer. Some firms already carry this out. Alternatively, insurance cove should be born by the trader or his trade association.
In some respects this Directive goes further than the present English law but in other ways it is inferior. The Government has said that there will be no reduction in the existing English rights. One o the improvements will be that the right to expect adequate installation, where appropriate, will be included in the contract. We wonder whether soma firms will get round this by insisting on a separate contract for installation. Guarantees will be legally binding (we suggest this should be on both the seller and the manufacturer) and for six months and defect will be presumed to have existed at the time of sale, unless proved by the seller to be due to inappropriate use by the consumer. The Minister nonetheless says that one should always look a gift horse in the mouth. If a deal sounds too good to be true, it probably is!
On our 43 million trips into the other European states problems can arise when the hire car breaks down, the heels fall off those expensive Italian shoes or the hotel proves to be not up to standard. Then there are those faulty goods you bought online which turn out to come from somewhere in Europe. Prevention is better than cure so it is better to deal with a UK based company where possible and a credit card should be used (not a debit or store card which does not give the same protection). Even so the card companies dispute their responsibility for goods
bought from foreign firms they have approved, though none of them have allowed a case to go to court, but have dealt with it on a ‘goodwill' basis. The EU Commission Consumer Affairs Directorate is promoting the use of out-of-court settlement of consumer disputes by Alternative Dispute Resolution. The local CAB will contact the NACAB electronic centre which will supply the necessary contacts in the EU country concerned.
Open up the Branded Market A Department of Trade & Industry survey of the prices of branded goods showed that the consumer could benefit from reform of the Trade Mark laws. Together with Sweden, the UK is seeking amendments which would allow retailers to import products from anywhere in the world where they are on open sale. Firms would no longer be able to ban retailers from importing their products which had been bought at lower prices than those current in their home market.
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