Contract law assignment questions and answers

Question 2

An individual who commits him  or herself to buy a  product or a service for personal use instead of resale or to use it as raw materials is known as a customer. However, under Australian consumer law, consumers are protected by certain rights that are given to them through the Acts and laws that are manifested through consumer protection like the Australian Consumer Act 1992. Thus, the following are some of the basic rights for consumers.

1, the right to be informed. As a consumer of the heating system, Simone’s father had the right to receive full and basic information about the product which will influence the selection or even the rejection  of the same product. In this case, a sales person or a company cannot force any consumer to buy their product or service without having to inform them complete details of the products beforehand. In this case, the sales person didn’t provide full information about the product to the buyer taking in mind that the buyer was under influence of alcohol.

2, the right to choose. In the modern days, there are different and wide products, substitutes and brands to select that are available. Here, the scope of the consumer is broad and they maintain the right to be allowed to select the product they want to buy from different sources. Therefore, the law states that no representative of the company or the firm should have the right or privilege to force the customer to buy their products. Thus, in the case study, the sales person appears to be forcing Simone’s father to accept and sign the deal.

3, the right to be heard. Consumers have the right to be heard in case they are not happy with the product or service that they buy from a company. In addition, the company need to listen to consumers as proceed to take the appropriate actions such as replacing the product or taking other measures which will lead to customer satisfaction.

4, the right to have issues and problems addressed. This means that a consumer who has already paid for  the product has all the rights to  get any problem that might have developed in the product addressed or corrected. Therefore, if the store or even the manufacturer fails to provide customers with the solution of the problem, consumers have the right to seek justice from the necessary agency or authority.

Thus, in relation to the case, Simone’s parents can seek for compensation or virtue based in the following consumer protection rights: the right to be informed, right to choose, right to be heard as well as right to have the issues addressed and corrected.

Indeed, this is because, it is evident that the sales person (Jack) failed in providing the necessary information to the consumer (Simone’s parents) as he is the one who got the father drunk as well as took the opportunity of her mother’s inability to comprehend English. Therefore, the right to information was breached and hence, Simon has  the right to request his father to cancel the agreement and get refunded the money already spent if the company will not repair for any faulty.

In addition, Jack failed to allow Simone’s parents to choose the product from other types as the one they bought was costing $5000, which Simon assumed to be very expensive as compared to other products in the similar group and by other manufacturers. In fact, according to ACL s 18, a it is against the law for a business engage in conduct that is misleading or deceptive or likely to mislead or deceive. Such kind or practice makes the business transaction irrelevant as it was determined in the case between Apple case and ACCC v Telstra Corporation Ltd (2007).

Furthermore, Jack failed to explain the conditions of the product that were written in the sale’s contract and especially that has the clause that stated that no action could be brought against the company for faulty installation and customers would have to pay double charges if they called for repairs to be done on any day except Monday and Wednesday’. Therefore, there was a breach of the right to be informed and hence, Simon’s father has the right to cancel the contract and seek refund.

the above scenarios shows that there are some violations of the consumer rights and thus, taking into consideration the benefit of the rights to be informed (ACL s 134), right to be heard, as well as the right to get an issue addressed by the company, Simon’s parents can go ahead and approach the company claiming inability as well as the misleading character of Jack who is their sales’ representative. However, if the manufacturer or the company fails to address the issues, Simon’s parents can move ahead and approach the necessary agencies or authorities such as the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) established by the government to handle such matters. In fact, Section 259 ACL provides that a person may take action against the supplier of goods for breach of consumer guarantees and this was a case of breach of guarantee.