Consumer Legal Advice

LTJBarugh on 02/02/2022 - 12:30

Hi folks,

I'm a lawyer, and about to start my own practice. I wanted to write some articles on my site that answered common consumer legal issues - especially the sorts of things where a person would never instruct a lawyer (due to cost), but where an explanation of the law could be helpful.

I'd be really grateful for any suggestions of topics to cover. So far, I've got

  • Extended warranties, especially how to cancel
  • Credit contracts, especially how to cancel
  • Consumer guarantees megapost, with a really detailed explanation and template letters
  • Parking tickets - how to try get public tickets waived, how to get out of private tickets, and how to opt out of the register to prevent getting them
  • Credit card and financial fees - how to get these waived, even in retrospect
  • Price mistakes (when are they enforceable, and when are they not)
  • A practical guide to going to the Disputes Tribunal to enforce your rights

Really keen for any other thoughts!

General Discussion

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  • Foodie on 02/02/2022 - 21:53
    +3

    Pretty minor but can be frustrating at times, the loose rules of price matching / beating.
    Can stores just flat out refuse to price match or make up new rules on the fly (in order to refuse on the day)? Even if their website doesn't mention it?

    Perhaps details on places like the market acting as in-between agents for returns etc? A step by step guide to best navigate those returns.

    • Hayce Irri on 03/02/2022 - 09:01

      Price match policy’s are created by the store in question so when they break it or create another unwritten rule then there’s nothing you can do. However report them to comcom please.

      • Foodie on 03/02/2022 - 09:21

        With the amount of places that do it now it really should be written into CGA or something

        • CheapThingsAreNice on 03/02/2022 - 13:13

          Not honouring something they advertise (like pricematch) is probably a breach of fta

    • akrotohur on 03/02/2022 - 13:18

      So many, I have had store managers telling me different things, one said "Ohh, that's on clearance, we don't price match clearance", another went "hmmm, that's on clearance", then went to check their T&C and told me "there's no mention of clearance, I'll do it", that's just one example…haha, some would arbitrarily impose purchase limits on the fly (accusing me of buying "trade" quantity").

    • TJBarugh on 03/02/2022 - 15:11

      thanks for the suggestions - on the list.

      price beat largely depends on terms a store sets ahead of time, if they do that at all. I've previously had success firmly but politely reminding Noel Leeming of their policy, and insisting that if they refuse to give the price match they explain exactly why the policy does not apply (in this case, they claimed they did not price match a particular retailer because many of their products were parallel imported - but the product in question was official local supply - and their terms did not provide for that)

  • Alan6984 on 02/02/2022 - 16:46
    +1

    Hi,

    Not sure how involved it would be, but maybe something on how to collect debts.

    I guess you might need to split it into collecting from a company, and from an individual?

    Thanks,

    Alan.

    • Arsonist on 03/02/2022 - 13:01
      +3

      Reminds me of this epic thread

      • Alan6984 on 03/02/2022 - 13:49

        That's a brilliant thread - thanks for the laughs!

        Alan.

      • bigcheese on 03/02/2022 - 14:27

        That's awesome.
        Great read.

      • JAOP on 03/02/2022 - 15:56

        Fantastic afternoon reading that! Thanks for sharing.

  • huffboy on 03/02/2022 - 14:45
    +1

    Price mistakes… when they can cancel or force you to bring back the item etc.

    • Alan6984 on 03/02/2022 - 14:56
      +1

      My understanding from doing a single 'business law' paper about thirty years ago in a different country (so I might be completely wrong!) is that, when you are at the 'checkout', the retailer makes an offer to sell the goods in your trolley as a whole (might be only one thing) for a total price, and you either 'accept' or 'decline' the 'offer' at that point. If you 'accepted', paid, and then walk away, I believe the deal is done and final.

      Online, I am not sure what the legal point of 'offer' and point of 'acceptance' is though - I can only guess that if there are specific terms and conditions on the website, then they will set out what constitutes an 'offer' and at what point that is 'accepted'. Probably the 'offer' would be the customer submitting an order, but you might find that an order confirmation (email) is not necessarily a formal 'acceptance'. However, maybe the processing of a credit card payment might be regarded as a formal 'acceptance' (in the absence of anything specific in the terms and conditions to say otherwise)?

      I do believe that websites are advertisements, and therefore are usually only an 'invitation to treat', and not a formal 'offer' in and of itself - similar to price tags in stores or displays in a window with prices.

      Alan.

    • TJBarugh on 03/02/2022 - 15:13

      thanks, on the list.

      the law here is complicated. Alan is right re brick and mortar shops, but the position with online stores gets complicated - e.g. if a store's terms claim that a purchase is merely an 'order request' or something that the vendor can then accept/decline. good idea for an article.

      • Alan6984 on 03/02/2022 - 16:43

        My non legal-professional guess would be that the website's terms and conditions would be the first 'port of call' and would, in most cases, over-ride anything else (excepting any legislation that cannot be over-ridden such as the CGA for example)?

        It feels to me that, you would be deemed to have accepted those terms when placing an order?

        Alan.

  • wellydeal on 02/02/2022 - 12:38

    What happened to your website you had previously posted here?

    • akrotohur on 02/02/2022 - 13:54

      Is this a lawyer that also sells masks?

      • TJBarugh on 02/02/2022 - 14:05

        @akrotohur, yes that is my 'side hustle' for now (but I'm not the only one! I know another lawyer, and Cheapies user, who is also selling masks…)

        • akrotohur on 02/02/2022 - 14:10

          ahh…it's another site that they were referring to, not that masks site…haha

    • TJBarugh on 02/02/2022 - 14:03

      Do you mean rightsguide.nz? It's down at the moment as I move the content from an instance of Docassemble to something with a bit more support and better security (https://www.documate.org/).

      The content was OK, but because I was working full-time as an employed lawyer I didn't have enough time to really polish it. Plus I spread things too thin - too many tools, but they were a bit janky.

      So I'm thinking of having a bunch of articles, which are easier to produce - and then a few higher quality tools that I think people will use pretty frequently.

      Going to roll it into my firm - which I hope to launch some time between late March and late May, depending on when I get Law Society approval and professional indemnity insurance confirmed.

      • wellydeal on 02/02/2022 - 14:26

        Yip, that is what i was talking about

        • TJBarugh on 02/02/2022 - 14:51

          Did you use any of the tools? Keen to know what you thought - and if there's anything that you'd find really useful

    • bigcheese on 04/02/2022 - 09:49

      There is some good information here in regards to personal grievances.

      The most important thing with this is that if you have no luck discussing your issues with your employer you must lodge the grievance with them in writing within 90 days of the event that led to your grievance.
      Once that is done there is plenty of time to sort through your claim, but if you don't do it within 90 days (and specifically state in your letter that this is a personal grievance and why), then you will have very limited comeback on your employer.

        • Alan6984 on 13/02/2022 - 11:48

          In general, the employer can ask to include any clause that they like, as can the employee.

          It is a negotiation as to what actually ends up being agreed by the two parties of course.

          Some things are set out in law that you can't over-ride, and any clauses that contravene that, even if clearly agreed by the two parties, aren't going to be legally effective.

          My suggestion would be to write up what you want to include, specifically allowing you to do (or not do) whatever you want, and then get your employer (or prospective employer) to agree (or not). If they won't agree, then move on to another employer that will, or ultimately, become self-employed so you can do whatever you like (subject to getting your customers to buy from you on your terms).

          Alan.

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