Christmas shopping

Christmas is round the corner and if there is a time when consumers are more vibrant in their shopping, surely this is the time. And this is time when consumers should be more careful.

By now most of the shopping for most people is already over. In fact this is the time when complaints are most common. Some of these complaints are not the result of the business community but because of lack of planning. The most common complaint is that consumers realize that they do not need the product they bought. In such a situation, consumers do not have any rights.

However, there are other circumstances where consumers are within their right to complain. But today I will not deal with complaints. Neither will I deal with consumer rights, except one.

This is an important right which unfortunately few know about. It stems from the definition of consumer as defined in our legislation. According to the Consumer Affairs Act a consumer is:

“(i) any individual who in transactions and other matters covered by this Act or any regulations made thereunder, is acting for purposes which are not related to his trade, business, craft or profession; and

(ii) any other individual not being the immediate purchaser or beneficiary, and whether or not a member of the consumer’s household, who having been expressly or tacitly authorised or permitted by the consumer, may have consumed, used or benefited from any goods or services provided to the consumer by a trader acting in the course of a trade, business, craft or profession, including goods or services provided as part of gift schemes and similar or analogous inducements; and …”

Thus a consumer is someone who buys the product or service to consume it and not for the purpose of trading. Moreover, the second paragraph is more important at this time of year as the rights consumers have are not limited to the original consumer but to all others who are permitted by the consumer to use the product. This in effect means that those who receive presents have the same rights as the original consumer.

There is logic behind this as this means that the rights of the original consumer are transferable. Thus if a product is bought and given as a present, who receives the present will also have the same rights. This is because the rights have been transferred by the original consumer.

Having said this all the other conditions apply. For example, one important condition is to keep the receipt. This is especially important nowadays because of parallel trading where the same product may be imported by different importers.

Two important tips for last minute Christmas shopping: The first is DON’T PANIC. Plan your shopping. If you’re unsure about which present to buy, go for vouchers. The second tip is to check carefully the product you’re buying as it might be impossible to change as stocks might be depleted. If you’re buying a service for someone, check the conditions especially if there are any time limits for the service to be availed of, and any other conditions.

This article was published in Maltastar on the 21st December 2011.