2 January 2025
By Bryan McCarthy
bryan@TheCork.ie
The Sale of Goods and Supply of Services Act 1980 – which is well remembered by Business Studies and Home Economics Students! – has been superseded by the Consumer Rights Act 2022, let’s look at what rights it gives consumers these days.
When you buy something in Ireland or the EU, you have strong rights.
The laws are designed to make you feel confident when shopping in stores or online, make sure you have enough information to make informed decisions and provide redress options if things go wrong. By law, sellers or suppliers (known as ‘traders’) must treat you fairly, for example, by making sure products and services are safe and of a high standard.
Updates to consumer law
The Consumer Rights Act 2022 simplified and updated consumer protection laws. The Act introduced new protections, including:
- Rights for digital content contracts
- Rights for services contracts
- A right to agree a price reduction on faulty products or services
- A ‘blacklist’ of contract terms that are always unfair
- A ban on certain aggressive commercial practices, including fake reviews
The Act also gave extra enforcement powers for the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC)
Who are consumers?
Consumer laws only apply to transactions between a consumer and a trader. A consumer buys goods or services for personal use. A trader sells goods or services as a business, trade or profession. Be mindful that consumer law does not apply when buying from:
- A private individual who is not a trader (for example, someone selling you their car but who does not sell cars as a profession).
- A seller outside the EU or European Economic Area (Norway, Iceland, and Liechtenstein).
Types of consumer contracts
When you buy goods, services and digital content, you make a contract with the seller. As parties to the agreement, both you and the seller have certain legal rights and obligations.
The main types of consumer contracts are:
- Sales contracts and online sales contracts
- Contracts for services
- Digital content services or contracts
Contracts can be made verbally, in writing, or by your conduct (for example, a silent contract where you pay for a good at a self-service supermarket checkout). Certain terms can be set by the businesses (for example the price or how a service is carried out) however, these terms must not go against your consumer rights.
What you can expect from your product or service
When you buy products, services or digital content or services they must be ‘in conformity with the contract’. They must meet certain conditions of quality, performance and durability. You are entitled to certain remedies, when something you buy does not meet the conditions or standards. A remedy could be a repair, replacement, refund or a price reduction.
Right to information
Consumer law gives you a right to certain information before you buy. The information you must get depends on whether you bought in a physical shop, online or on your doorstep. When you buy online or at your doorstep, you must get a copy of the signed contract or order confirmation. The confirmation should be on paper or through email. The table below gives an overview:
| Key information you must get | Where you bought | ||
| In store | At your door | Online | |
| Seller’s business name, address, phone number | Y | Y | Y |
| Seller’s email, other communication channels | N | Y | Y |
| Product or service details | Y | Y | Y |
| Total price or how it will be calculated | N | Y | Y |
| Personalised price (if relevant) | N | Y | Y |
| Length of the contract | N | Y | Y |
| Details on payment and performance | N | Y | Y |
| Cost for each billing period or each month for services with no fixed length | N | Y | Y |
| Any extra charges, for example delivery charges | N | Y | Y |
| Your right to cancel, where it applies | Y | Y | Y |
| Conditions applying to deposits (if relevant) | N | Y | Y |
Right to change your mind and cancel
You have a right to change your mind and cancel when you buy online, over the phone, by mail order or on your doorstep (known as distance contracts). Ciara advises “With distance contracts, you do not enter into the contract in person and you cannot check the products or service before you buy. For this reason, you have a ‘cooling off period’ where you can change your mind and get a refund. The cooling off period ends 14 days after you receive the goods or service. For doorstep sales, you have 30 days from when the contract was agreed to cancel. Sometimes you do not have a cooling-off period and the seller must tell you this before you buy.
Unfair terms
Contract terms and conditions must be fair and clear. A term is unfair if you are at an unfair disadvantage. Consumer law sets out terms that may be unfair (the ‘grey list’) and ones that are always and automatically unfair (the ‘blacklist’). There are legal tests of the transparency and fairness of contract terms. It is up to the seller to prove that terms are transparent and fair.
Unfair sales practices
You are protected against unfair, misleading or aggressive sales practices. Sellers cannot:
- Make a false or misleading claim about products, services, and prices
- Use false or misleading descriptions
- Use aggressive tactics to influence you
- Present reviews as genuine without checking they are not fake.
If things go wrong
If something you bought is faulty or does not meet the description, the seller must offer you a repair, replacement, refund or a reduction in the price.
Make a complaint
Always approach the seller first, to allow them to put things right. You can get more advice about how to make a complaint by contacting your local Citizens Information Centre.
Breaches of consumer law
The Consumer Rights Act 2022 strengthens the enforcement powers of consumer protection agencies like the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) and the Commission for Communications Regulation (ComReg). The CCPC can take action against traders who do not give you the remedies or refunds you are entitled to or who use misleading or aggressive practices.
Companies can be fined by the Courts following enforcement action taken by the CCPC.
John Beausang and Yvonne Rayner, Cork City’s Citizens Information Managers, said,
Our telephone lines in Cork City are monitored from 10am to 4.30pm, Monday to Friday. In addition, the Cork City Centre CIC in Cornmarket Street is open to the public Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays, from 9.45am to 1pm and Wednesdays from 2pm to 4.30pm. The Blackpool CIC is open to the public each morning from 10am to 4pm, Tuesday and Thursday. Full details for all Citizens Information Centres and their opening times are available on our website.