Consumer Protection and Marketing
An EU Directive came into force in the UK on 26 May 2008 by the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008. The law prohibits certain ‘sharp practices’ in the marketing, sale and supply of a product to consumers.
It does not apply to business-to-business transactions although the government’s view is that it will apply to unfair practices further up the supply chain (for example, where a manufacturer misleadingly labels its product despite the fact that the direct contact with the consumer is through the retailer).
unfair commercial practices
image courtesy of Ewan-M
The general prohibition is a general ban on unfair commercial practices. This means ‘misleading practices’ and ‘aggressive practices’. Finally, the ‘black list’ contains some 31 examples of commercial practices that are always unfair, such as falsely stating that a product will only be available for a very limited time or describing a product as ‘free’, ‘without charge’ or similar if the consumer has to pay anything other than the unavoidable cost of responding to the commercial practice and collecting or paying for delivery of the item.
A breach of the law will, in most cases, be a criminal offence. Directors and managers could be fined and even sentenced to up to two years in prison for contravention of it.
So who is an ‘average consumer’? No cases have yet decided this but he/she is thought to be a ‘reasonably well-informed and reasonably, observant and circumspect’ person. Extra care should be taken towards children, elderly or vulnerable consumers. On balance, if you follow honest market practices and act in good faith then it is unlikely that you will fall foul of the law.
Let the buyer beware? Not any longer!
(For the full statutory controls see ‘Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008’)