Features

If you get into a dispute with an online retailer or a professional eBay trader, you are protected by a range of consumer laws.

The Sale of Goods Act, 1979 (amended 1994 and 2002) and the Supply of Goods and Services Act, 1982

These provide our statutory rights. They dictate that any goods bought from an online business (or high street shop) must match the description provided, be of satisfactory quality and be fit for their intended purpose. If goods do not conform to contract at the time of sale, the customer can request their money back within a reasonable time. Unfortunately, you have considerably less protection when buying from an individual. Here, the Sale of Goods Act merely specifies that the description of the goods must match the items for sale.

Distance Selling Regulations, 2000

These apply when you buy goods or services over the internet or by mail order, telephone, interactive TV or fax. The regulations specify that a business must provide clear information about products, including delivery costs, as well as full contact details of the supplier. The goods must be delivered within 30 days unless you've agreed otherwise. Finally, there's a seven-day 'cooling off' period that allows you to cancel your purchase and receive a full refund. However, certain goods such as perishables, CDs, DVDs, personalised items and magazines are exempt from this. Goods won at auction are also exempt from these regulations, although this does not mean you're on your own if something goes wrong. As Richard Webb, a Group Manager of Community Safety at Trading Standards explains, "Auction buyers are still protected in many ways. It is an offence to misdescribe an item on an auction site or to take money for items you have offered to sell but cannot provide. It is also illegal, for example, to sell counterfeit goods by way of auction sites."

Furthermore, 'buy it now' items run by business sellers on eBay are covered by the Distance Selling Regulations, so you have the full roster of rights in that instance.

Consumer Credit Act, 1974

When making a purchase of between £100 and £30,000 with a credit card, Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act states that if something goes wrong with the transaction (for example, the goods are never delivered or the company goes bust), you can claim your money back from your credit card company. A recent clarification of Section 75 also confirmed that card users have this protection when shopping abroad as well as in the UK (see www.tradingstandards.gov.uk/consumers/ceurope.cfm).

EU directive on unfair commercial practices, 2008

This represents a change in legislative framework and is due to take effect in 2008 in the UK. "The Directive creates some new general provisions that require businesses to trade fairly," says Webb. "They ban misleading actions, which includes any misleading information in advertising and marketing materials, create criminal offences for omitting material information from advertising and ban some specific practices. These provisions apply equally to online transactions and those completed face to face. Hence there will be a wider range of protections for those buying online."