Consumer protection: The importance of fair and reasonable consumer contracts
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Legal and Regulatory Update This section of the journal looks at marketing, data protection, technology and e-commerce issues, providing an overview of recent key legal developments in these areas.
Consumer protection: The importance of fair and reasonable consumer contracts Paul Langford Journal of Direct, Data and Digital Marketing Practice (2007) 9, 198–210. doi:10.1057/palgrave.dddmp.4350086
Those of you who sell goods over the internet take note: customers who have a bad experience when returning an item are unlikely to buy from you ever again. Most online retailers know that they must provide a refund or replacement for goods that are faulty; but many website vendors fall short in dealing with other aspects of the process, such as who pays the cost of delivery, and the fact that customers have certain rights to a refund even where there is no fault. The impact of getting your online terms and conditions wrong is threefold. First, staff will inevitably use such terms as their bible for dealing with customer queries and complaints, which may serve to exacerbate the level of rage among your legally adept customers. Secondly, customer relations will inevitably suffer: a disgruntled on-line shopper is not only unlikely to return to your site, but will encourage others to avoid it. To top this off, you may also find yourself subject to investigation by the Office of Fair Trading, who can require you to change your terms and conditions. This is exactly what happened to dabs. com plc (Dabs), which, following action by the OFT, recently agreed to amend numerous unfair terms and conditions in its consumer contracts.
Dabs’ terms and conditions
Paul Langford Berwin Leighton Paisner LLP Adelaide House London Bridge London EC4R 9HA, UK Tel: + 44 020 7760 4911 E-mail: [email protected]
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Dabs is one of the UK’s largest online retailers, supplying computers, software and electronic goods directly to customers in the UK. Its website contained more than 20 provisions and statements that caused concern to the OFT, and that Dabs has subsequently amended or deleted. These included the following: — An exclusion of the company’s liability for errors in the descriptions of goods
© 20 0 7 PALGRAVE MACMILLAN LTD 1746- 0166 $3 0.00 VO L .9 NO.2 PP 198– 210. www.palgrave-journals.com/dddmp
Journal of Direct, Data and Digital Marketing Practice
Legal and Regulatory Update The original term in Dabs’ conditions provided as follows: ‘We accept no responsibility for keeping the information in these pages up to date or liability for any failure to do so.’ UTCCRs
As this term excluded liability for errors, it fell foul of the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999 (UTCCRs). The OFT required this to be deleted. — A requirement on the consumer to pay cost of carriage to return faulty goods The original term provided in respect of the return of faulty goods: ‘Please note that no courier collection charges will be refunded.’ This clause had the effect of limiting liability for defective goods by requiring the consumer
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