According to research carried out by the Office Fair Trading (OFT) seventy percent of new homes are faulty.
The OFT has been investigating the housebuilding industry for over a year and has just released its initial findings. The study not only investigated quality issues, but also covered consumer satisfaction and house supply issues relating to [...]
Archive for June, 2008
Majority of New Homes Defective
Doorstep selling - Your right to cancel
With any contract or sale which is concluded in this way, you must be sure you have been presented with clear written notice of your 7 day right to cancel, at or before the time the contract is made. If you have not, the contract is legally unenforceable. This notice, which cannot be in the [...]
June 30th, 2008 | Catriona | 0 comments | Continued
Is the visit unsolicited?
In order for the regulations to apply, you must be sure that the trader pays an unsolicited visit to your home or place of work, rather than through any request you might have made. If you have requested a visit for a particular product or service, and the trader sells you something else entirely, then [...]
June 30th, 2008 | Catriona | 0 comments | Continued
Doorstep selling
All householders can expect, at some point, to be greeted by a cold-caller trying to sell them stuff – whether this be cleaning products, encyclopaedias or home improvements. It can be difficult enough to tell them you’re not interested, and it can be more difficult still to ask them to leave once they are inside [...]
June 30th, 2008 | Catriona | 0 comments | Continued
I’ve been sent stuff I never ordered!
The Distance Selling Regulations are very clear on this. If you’ve been sent unsolicited goods, you are entitled to treat them as an unconditional gift and do with them as you choose. You are not required to keep them for any amount of time and you are certainly not required to pay for them. Any [...]
June 30th, 2008 | Catriona | 0 comments | Continued
Protection against credit card fraud for mail order goods and services
We will discuss this later in reference to the Consumer Credit Act, but for goods and services paid for under a distance selling contract, you are protected against fraudulent use of your payment card. If you ever find an entry on your bank statement for a sum of money that you did not authorise, in [...]
June 30th, 2008 | Catriona | 0 comments | Continued
Returning mail order goods
Unless you are required to return the goods, and you were informed of this, your only obligations are to make the goods available for collection and to take reasonable care of them while they are in your possession. This is called a duty of care. Where the supplier has made provision to collect the goods, [...]
June 30th, 2008 | Catriona | 0 comments | Continued
Mail order - your right to cancel
One of the most important implications of the distance selling regulations is a cooling off period of 7 days during which you have the right to cancel. The supplier must provide you with details of your cancellation rights, any duty to return the goods should you cancel, and whether you will have to pay for [...]
June 30th, 2008 | Catriona | 0 comments | Continued
Mail Order and Distance Selling - know the facts
If you’ve ever ordered a product or commissioned a service in this way, the seller has certain obligations, and you have certain rights which are worth knowing. Firstly, the supplier must provide you with ‘prior information’ in respect of identity of the supplier, description of the main characteristics of the product or service, price, delivery [...]
June 30th, 2008 | Catriona | 0 comments | Continued
Mail Order Goods and Distance Selling
Is mail order stuff any different?
Absolutely. It’s highly likely that at some point you will have bought something over the phone or on the internet, and unlike buying something in a shop, it’s a situation whereby you are not physically face to face with the supplier. What we are talking about here are the [...]
