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Just because retailers are desperate for our custom, does not mean they will play fair with consumers says lawyer Geoffrey Woodroffe, former director of the Centre for Consumer and Commercial Law at Brunel University. "Most retailers are fully aware of obligations but rely on consumers' ignorance of the law," he adds.
Here are some favourite tricks used to deny consumers legal rights:
• Telling customers to send faulty items back to manufacturers. This is wrong, designed to shift the problem elsewhere. The buyer has a contract with the retailer, not with the manufacturer who may not even have a representative in this country, let alone be geared up to deal with faulty items.
• Claiming that goods are not designed for a long life. No one expects ballet shoes to last long on a cross-country hike, so it can be a matter of common sense.
But goods should not disintegrate the day after a warranty expires. Woodroffe cites a 1982 case in his Consumer Law and Practice (written jointly with solicitor Robert Lowe) where a judge ruled on the durability of a Land Rover towbar - in the consumer's favour.
• Many stores claim items left their shelves in a perfect condition, so any subsequent fault must be down to the consumer. That's almost impossible to prove either way. But recent legislation says that if a durable item fails in its first six months, then it should be treated as if it had not worked from the start. US-owned clothing store Lands End goes to the other extreme, with a limitless guarantee on goods.
• Stores often try the "no refund or return without a receipt" line. No store has to change or refund an item simply because the owner does not like the colour. But where an item fails, shops do not have the right to demand a receipt. A credit card slip or statement or even the say-so of a person who was present when the products were purchased, are legally enough.
• Notices saying "No return on sale goods" are out of order. While stores do not have to exchange sale goods if the buyer changes their mind, consumers always have full rights to a refund or an exchange if goods are faulty, the price they were sold at being immaterial.
• Restocking-fees for the return of goods which are not faulty are also illegal. Under the Distance Selling Regulations, consumers have up to seven days to send back items bought on the internet or by phone or mail order without being charged. But they can reject items such as CDs where the seal has been broken.
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