Paul Sullivan, Managing Partner
More than £2.8 billion was spent ondigital content last year, including downloads of music, video and games – ayear on year increase of 18%. As of today, those consumers downloading music orbuying e-books have new legal rights under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 whichincludes rules around refunds, repairs or replacements of faulty goods. Thisincludes, for the first time, the creation of a specific timeframe of 30 daysfor consumers to reject a faulty item and get a full refund.
Research shows that shoppersencountered more than 18 million problems with consumer goods and services in2013, leaving people £4.15 billion out of pocket The Consumer Rights Act 2015aims to simplify matters. BusinessMinister Nick Boles MP said: “Whether it’s downloading music or buying a fridgefreezer, the Consumer Rights Act makes it easier to understand your rights. UKconsumers spend £90 billion a month and it is important they are able to shopwith confidence. These changes will also simplify the law for businesses sothey can spend less time worrying about unclear and unwieldy regulations.”
Key changes include:
thiswill be the first time that consumers have had clear legal rights for digitalcontent - specifically, the Act gives consumers the right to repair orreplacement of faulty digital content such as online films and games, musicdownloads, and ebooks
a30 day time period to return faulty goods and get a full refund, the law waspreviously unclear on how long this period should last
after30 days, retailers have one opportunity to repair or replace any goods and theconsumer can choose whether they want the goods to be repaired or replaced - ifthe attempt at a repair or replacement is unsuccessful, the consumer can thenclaim a refund or a price reduction if they wish to keep the product
forthe first time there are clear rules for what should happen if a service is notcarried out with reasonable care and skill or as agreed with the consumer - theservice provider will have to put the service right in line with what wasagreed or, if that is not practical, must give some money back
consumersbeing able to challenge terms and conditions which are not fair or are hiddenin the small print
Richard Lloyd at Which? said: “Consumerlaw was crying out to be brought up to date to cope with the requirements anddemands of today’s shoppers. Getting a refund or repair, dealing with issueswith faulty digital downloads and understanding contracts should now all bemuch simpler.”
According to Citizens Advice bossGillian Guy: “Clear consumer rights are good for shoppers and businesses. Thenew laws coming in today should make it easier for people to understand and usetheir rights regardless of what goods or services they buy. Businesses have a realopportunity to show they value their customers by upholding their new rightsand signing up to an alternative dispute resolution scheme. This means peoplehave an independent body they can raise a complaint with if they haven’tmanaged to resolve their issue with the trader.”
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