U21A3 P6 P7 M2 M3 D2
Unit 21 Assignment 3
Amazon
Amazon offers both goods (the things they sell) and services (Amazon Prime, Amazon
Video, etc).
P6 M2
Consumer Protection Law
A consumer is someone who purchases goods / services for personal use, they are
protected by law in given situations under consumer protection. An Amazon consumer
would be someone who purchases something off of the site and / or uses their services
such as Amazon Video.
Rights for Goods
Sale of Goods Act 1979
This covered the sale of goods, which includes physical items including perishables (e.g
food).
This law protects the consumer because it sets a standard for products and protects the
consumer from substandard products, it has to fit a basic criteria of being what it says it is,
being fit for purpose and of satisfactory quality. Importantly for Amazon they have to make
sure their product fits the descriptions because it is online shopping and the customer
relies heavily on the pictures and description. However, satisfactory quality is a very basic
standard and not holding the products up to a high standard can mean some products are
not as good as they could be. Satisfactory is also a very vague term which can be hard to
pinpoint so it could be difficult for a consumer to know when these rights are being
broken. ‘Satisfactory’ needs to be made more clear so it is easier for consumers to know
their rights.
Every good sold had these terms implied into the contract:
Title
It is implied that the seller has the right to sell the goods and are able to pass the title
onto the buyer. If you haven't fully paid for the product yet you can’t sell it on, for example,
can't legally sell on a car that you have on a lease agreement because it would be passed
onto the next person.
Description
The item needs to fit the description given, for example when someone tried to sell a car
and gave details of the car, but it was actually two cars welded together so did not meet its
description. Description is particularly important online, for example when buying from
Amazon, because the consumer is relying entirely on the description / pics, so description
, needs to be as accurate as possible.
Fitness and satisfactory quality
The product needs to be of satisfactory quality, this is subjective and depends on a lot of
factors. It is decided on based on the objective test, looking at what the average person
would expect of that product. Goods need to be fit for their purpose, for example you can’t
have a hot water bottle which cannot deal with hot liquids. If a professional advises you to
use the product differently and it breaks or causes a problem, you can still get money back
because used it based on professional advice
Samples
If you are shown a sample, the real thing must be the same as the sample and it must be
free from hidden defects. Any differences have to be made known by the seller before you
buy the real thing.
The Consumer Rights Act 2015
This includes the same content as the Sales of Goods Act but also covers digital content
and services.
This law means that digital content is also covered, which protects the consumer from
digital content not being satisfactory, it holds digital content up to the same standards as
physical goods. This means Amazon’s online services, such as Audible books, need to be
usable - if a customer’s downloaded audible book couldn’t be understood because the
quality was bad this would be unsatisfactory.
An issue with this law is that it is unclear with an online purchase when the transaction
takes place, is it as soon as you pay for the item, when you receive confirmation from the
seller, or when it arrives? This being unclear means it is harder to protect the consumer.
Goods must be:
- Of Satisfactory quality: what is considered satisfactory quality is based on the
description, price and the objective test. For example, if you bought a £30 t-shirt you
would expect it to be of a good quality and to last, whereas a £2 tshirt you would
expect a lower quality.
- Fit for purpose: goods must be fit for purpose, this is usually based on the
description. For example, if you were going to buy a coat and told the retailer you
were looking for a waterproof coat, and they recommended you a coat, then it must
be fit for this purpose.
- As described: the goods should fit the description given to you, for example if a sofa
was described as being a certain material, it should fit this description.
30-day right to reject
If the goods do not meet one or more of these tests, the buyer is entitled to a full refund if
it is within 30 days of you taking ownership of the product.
