Consumer Protection

Consumer

A consumer is defined as any person who buys goods or uses service , and deserve to receive the quality and quantity that he/she has pain for it. Th legal definition for 'consumer' can be found in section 2(1) of the Consumer Protection Act 1999, which provides that a consumer is any person who acquires goods and service for personal or household use.

Consumer Protection Law

Consumer protection law or consumer law is considered an area of law that regulates private law relationship between individual consumers and the businesses that sell those good and services.

Example of Consumer Protection Law 

Donoghue Vs Stevenson [1932] AC 562

Mrs Donoghue went to a cafe with a friend. The friend brought her a bottle of ginger beer and an ice cream. The ginger beer came in an opaque bottle so that the contents could not be seen. Mrs Donoghue poured half the contents of the bottle over her ice cream and also drank some from the bottle. After eating part of the ice cream, she then poured the remaining contents of the bottle over the ice cream and a decomposed snail emerged from the bottle. Mrs Donoghue suffered personal injury as a result. She commenced a claim against the manufacturer of the ginger beer.

What are the Eight Basic Consumer Rights?

• choice 
- to be able to select from a range of products and services, offered at competitive prices with an assurance of satisfactory quality

• satisfaction of basic needs 
- to have access to basic and essential goods and services: adequate food, clothing, shelter, health care, education and sanitation. 

• safety 
- to be protected against products, production processes and services which are hazardous to health or life

• information 
- to be given the facts needed to make an informed choice, and to be protected against dishonest or misleading advertising and labelling.

• be heard
- to have consumer interests represented in the making and execution of government policy, and in the development of products and services.

• redress
- to receive a fair settlement of just claims, including compensation for misrepresentation, shoddy goods or unsatisfactory services.

• consumer education
- to acquire knowledge and skills needed to make informed choices about goods and services, while being aware of basic rights and responsibilities. 

• a healthy environment
- to live and work in an environment that is non-threatening to the well being of present and future generations.