Understanding Terms and Conditions When Shopping Online

The phrase "always read the small print" comes to mind when discussing the issues of consumerism and terms and conditions. This is especially pertinent when considering online shopping, where under UK law a supplier must provide the consumer with their sale policies before any purchase is made.

Overlooking terms and conditions set out on a website could result in ungrounded complaints made by the consumer. So before making a purchase, it is always important for the consumer to check over the terms and conditions of the sale, to both familiarise themselves with those terms as well as making sure that they are fully aware of the service that they should expect to receive once the contract has been made. This article summarises why terms and conditions exist, and why they are so important the online shopper.

Defining Terms

Essentially, when a buyer purchases goods or services, they are entering into a contract with the supplier. Many online sales are governed by a set of regulations and parliamentary acts which are designed to protect the consumer against unscrupulous sellers or unfair terms and conditions. The regulations and acts also allow the consumer to have certain legal rights, which are either expressed or implied.

The phrase 'implied terms' relates to those rights that are understood to exist, but have not been guaranteed, written down or agreed to. This includes many statutory consumer rights as outlined in the Distance Selling Regulations 2000 and Sale of Goods 1979 Act. Some of the most fundamental and pertinent implied terms are that goods sold by a business should be 'as described', of satisfactory quality, and fir for purpose.

'Express terms' relate to the more explicit terms that are usually set out in writing. Both parties must approve these sorts of terms before the contract is established, and these terms are more often than not the requisites that will appear in any online trader's terms and conditions. Examples of express or explicit terms include the price of the goods or service, the delivery costs and delivery arrangements.

Regulations

By law suppliers are obliged to outline certain prior information (before a purchase is made) about their business and the goods or services on sale. This includes information such as the delivery arrangements and costs, and information regarding the business's address and contact details. But it's always worth having some preliminary knowledge about your consumer rights when looking over any terms and conditions set out by an online supplier. This is because although some terms can be implied and will be enforced by the law, in some instances the supplier can set out alternatives terms and conditions of sale, which if agreed to will become legally binding.

One such example is returns policies. If no returns policy is stated within the terms and conditions, then it is assumed (and enforced by law) that the supplier will pay for the cost of any returned items, and that refunds for online purchases will be made in full and within 30 days of the goods being delivered, or services having begun. However, suppliers are within their rights to state alternative arrangements whereby the consumer will foot the cost of any returns. These arrangements should be deemed to be fair to the consumer, as the law states that the alternative arrangement shouldn't cause "significant imbalance in the parties' rights and obligations under the contract, to the detriment of consumers."

Another slightly different example is the right to a 7 day cooling-off period in which the consumer can change their mind about online purchases. Although this is a consumer right, the supplier is obliged to state this in their terms and conditions. If it is not stated, then the cooling-off period is automatically extended to 30 days.

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Unfair Terms

When shopping online, having read through a contract you may come across a term that you feel infringes your consumer rights. The Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations (UTCCRs) were brought into UK law to protect consumers against terms that, as aforementioned, cause imbalance to their obligations under the contract.

The UTCCRs also stipulate that terms must be set out in plain and intelligible language. This is so that all terms and conditions do not to appear misleading, deceitful or ambiguous, and can be clearly understood so that the consumer is able to make an informed choice. If, as a consumer you feel that you have become subject to an unfair term, if the law agrees, then the term will not be regarded as binding. If you would like to take your complaint further than the supplier, then the Office of Fair Trading is the UK body that has the power to enforce unfair terms that have been set out by traders under UK jurisdiction.

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