Your rights

Consumer law comes from statutes, judges decisions and agreements. You often have the right to repair, replacement, refund or cancellation, and sometimes you can claim out of pocket expenses too. There are rules to protect you from exclusion clauses, unfair terms, cowboys, dangerous goods, misleading pricing or description and consumer credit.

Services must be carried out with reasonable care. Products must be of satisfactory quality, as described and fit for purpose. Unless goods are dangerous you can only go after whoever you have the contract with, such as the shop.

Who to chase

Your first port of call is the shop who might want to satisfy you to get rid of you. Next stop is any head office who are more likely to know your rights and so might settle with you. Failing that some businesses are signed up to ombudsmen, OFT Codes or consumer councils so you can get a free or cheap independent review. Ultimately there are solicitors letters and court.

Using your bank

If you paid by card you can ask your bank to “charge back” the refund. If you paid by direct debit you can ask your bank to make an “indemnity claim”. Either way you have a good chance of getting your money back quickly from the bank who are regulated, have an ombudsman watching over their shoulder and can take money out of the retailer’s account, leaving the retailer to justify why it should get the money back again. As they say, possession is nine tenths of the law so once you’ve got your money back they are unlikely to appeal for a small amount when they know they owe you.

If you paid by cheque you might have time to stop it but then you are in breach of contract and will automatically lose if the retailer sues you, but you can counterclaim what they owe you so it may all cancel each other out.

Common disputes

Telecoms are a common source of problems. Mobile phone operators may have been misselling, overcharging, selling faulty phones, withholding cashbacks, locking you in, misleading you about cancellation, hiding 12 month deals and “slamming” (moving your phone’s network behind your back). Landline suppliers may have been refusing a line, withholding a deposit, compensation or number, or there may be a problem with access or nuisance calls. TV Licensing may be hounding you. The press may be libelling you. Royal Mail may have lost a parcel or be swamping you with junk mail.

Shops may use small print and excuses to fob you off, but often it is incorrect, illegal, irrelevant or unenforceable, and rarely affects your strong European consumer rights.

Data protection is mainly a question of statutory rules on accuracy but there are also common law rules on confidentiality, as famously used by Naomi Campbell against the Mirror.

Travel throws up problems with timeshares, medical bills, passports, customs, licences, penalty fares, concessions, accidents, congestion charges, disabled access, luggage, cancellations, overbooking and delays.

Utilities cause plenty of problems. Energy companies may be giving you trouble over arrears, deliveries, repairs, switching, doorstepping, meters and bills. Water suppliers may be charging you for their leaks or foisting a meter on you.

Traders may be arguing about credit notes, refunds, deposits, guarantees, defects, delays, ebay sales, second hand cars, garage repairs, building, dry cleaning or holidays.

Financial services are fertile ground for disputes. Fortunately you often have an ombudsman and compensation scheme to protect you, which helps when negotiating a settlement.

Restaurants: of course now you have read this guide you know to only eat from places with a 5 star food safety rating. Did you know there are 12 takeaways in Basildon with 0 stars? Or that much “organic” or “local” produce is not and that some beef is actually buffalo?

Case Studies

Mouldy sandwich

Guy bought a sandwich from a railway station kiosk. After taking a bite he noticed mould. Going back to the shop he noticed the fridge door had stopped closing properly and everything was warm. He was sickened that he may have eaten mould. He sent a letter and photo to the shop claiming mental distress under the rule in Donoghue v Stephenson and their insurer sent a cheque for £100.

Mobile phone contract

Keiley bought a two year mobile contract but eventually she got tired of the poor signal at the address they checked when they sold it to her. Since she stopped the direct debit they have been selling the debt to agencies who keep sending letters. She could ignore them but then she will risk having another battle over data protection to correct her credit reference file and will be blacklisted by the network. She can argue that the postcode check was a misrepresentation and breach of contract entitling her to walk away. If that fails she can argue that being asked to pay the unexpired term is an unenforceable penalty clause. The network could theoretically defeat that as they only charge per month rather than a fixed lump sum, but only if their profit is close to 100% so that the bill is a genuine estimate of their loss. Keiley could then get a court order disclosing their costs and profits, which they will not want to reveal, leaving them no choice but to settle and pay her costs. Even if she lost, if she appealed and won that would destroy the industry’s business model of long contracts and fixed payments.

Late delivery

On Saturday Shaun bought some kitchen tiles on condition that they are delivered by Wednesday, which was printed on the receipt. On Monday he got a call saying they are out of stock so it will be weeks later before he gets them. He had booked the tiler based on the promise of Wednesday. He went back to the shop to choose a substitute. When he went to the till they said they are dearer tiles so he has to pay more. Having done his homework he pointed out that he can claim the tiler’s bill for a wasted day or the extra cost of emergency substitute tiles from elsewhere. After a row with the assistant manager the manager intervened offering to go halves on the difference. Shaun refused and the manager asked head office to authorise a 100% discount on the difference which they agreed. A supplier is liable for all the predictable losses they cause and once a contract is made it is too late to say they are out of stock. If Shaun had to pay double to get them in a competitor next door or pay treble for the manufacturer to fly them over from China the shop would have to pay whether they like it or not.

Incidentally, the shop tried to rely on an exclusion clause on the receipt wrapper, but that was obviously not supplied until after payment so was not part of the contract. Even if it had been given in time it might be unenforceable as an unfair contract term or as contrary to the Supply of Goods Act.

Car park

Lisa came home from work on the train car park to find a penalty notice on her windscreen. She could not buy a ticket as the machine was out of order and rejected her coins. She was able to tell the train operating company that the alleged debt was extinguished as their agent (the machine) refused legal tender and that there was an implied agreement that parking is free when machines are broken as that had always been the case. In future she will register her car with the ticket office whenever there is a fault so the wardens know to leave her alone, and take a mobile photo of the out of order machine. In any event, the company would not want the cost of certifying the correct operation of a computer as would be necessary to collect a debt involving a machine.

Trapped on a train

Hugh was furious at being stuck on a train between stations for two hours and sued for false imprisonment. The judge decided he should have pulled the emergency release, even though that would cost the company a lot to recharge the gas canister.

Late delivery

Simon ordered some made to measure cushion covers under a contract that said delivery within four weeks. Once they were late he cancelled the contract and offered to buy them at 25% discount. The retailer had little choice but to accept.

Dodgy IT shop

Pauline gave her laptop to a shop to repair. They “lost” it and came up with a story that they kept chasing her to collect it and sold it when they didn’t hear back. She got an emergency injunction called an “order for delivery up” to force them to stop messing about and hand it over, which they did. Then they settled with her for the cost of renting a laptop in the meantime and rebuilding the data she thought she had lost, because they failed to serve the correct notice of sale and notice to collect, so they never had the right to dispose of it.

Slow electrician

Andy hired an electrician for a renovation with a completion date to coincide with his moving in date. The electrician had other juicier contracts to attend to so the job dragged on for three months before Andy sacked him. Andy hired a replacement and refused to pay the original electrician’s full bill. Instead he deducted the cost of the new electrician – who charged more for a smaller urgent job – and paid the rest.