Your correspondent has consumer rights against a vendor if something is not sold as advertised.
As part of my economics degree course in the 1960s, I had to study Commercial Law. I was taught that according to the law of contract (not sale of goods) if any vendor advertises a product to the world at large, then that product must be as advertised. The case law is based on the famous ruling in Carlyle v Carbolic Smoke Ball Company. Your correspondent KR may not succeed in the small claims court, but he does have consumer rights against the vendor.
Asked on 24 May 2013 by MS, Rochdale
Answered by
Honest John
No one has any consumer rights against a vendor if the vendor is a private individual and not a trader. He may have contractual rights. But he does not have consumer rights. The case your refer to involves a trader: the Carbolic Smoke Ball Company, not a private individual.
Tags:
legal advice
consumer rights
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