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Chapter 12 - Consumer Law

Ways of selling and buying

People try to sell their goods in various ways. Many of these ways are honest because people sell things that other people need and want. But in other cases dishonest people use all sorts of tricks to make consumers buy things they don't really want or need. Examples of these include fake contests where sellers pretend that consumers have won a free gift but they have to buy something expensive in order to get the free gift.

Misrepresentation

False and misleading advertisements is a crime because it can confuse or mislead consumers. Misrepresentation breaks one of the requirements of a valid contract. This is called an unfair business practice under the Consumer Affairs (Unfair Business Practice Act (No 71 of 1998).

Repairs and quotations

The law protects people who pay to have their things repaired or serviced. So, if the repairer does the work badly, or loses, damages or steals your possession, then the law protects you. If the repairer carries out any repairs without your permission, then you usually only have to pay for the cost of materials and not the labour.

If you don't pay for repairs done to your goods, the shop or seller can keep the goods until you agree to pay.

Buying on credit

When people need to buy expensive things like furniture, they often do not have enough money to pay cash. They can then decide to buy the expensive things on credit.

See Buying on credit and credit agreements.