Know Your Rights - Social Studies Term 3 2018

What is the FTA? (Fair Trading Act) Know your rights

What is the Fair Trading Act?

Questions

1. What is the Fair Trading Act?

Answer: A salesperson or company cannot mislead people into believing false facts. The Fair Trading Act makes it illegal to hand out false information about their products. About the quality, price, or features of any kind. This applies to all companies, whether it is a big organization, or a small, temporary company. It also includes advertisements, online sites, and social media. The rights to the customers need to be fair, whether you’re joining a gym, booking a flight, or purchasing a phone, the contracts need to be understood.

2. What is the commerce commission’s goal?

Answer: Their goal is to make New Zealand better off by enforcing laws related to fair trading, sorts of contracts, responsibilities around electricity and gas lines, and telecommunications. Other things they’ll ensure is;

• To make sure consumers are protected, and provided accurate data
• Competitors understand the regulations and the rules need to be monitored
• Market power is not to be used as any kind of advantage
• The competition in a market is not to be lowered by agreements or mergers between companies
• False or misleading data is to be addressed

3. Who besides the commission is responsible for the act and can take their own legal action?

Answer: Other than the commission, other countries too have the right to take action and enforce laws. This allows the commission to gain knowledge and issues from other agencies and prepare.

4. Who are the two types of groups the act applies to?

Answer: Customers and Consumers are protected by the Fair Trading Act.

Understand your compliance obligations;

1. What do the acts apply to?

Answer: They apply to consumers under the acts, they protect them from hidden payments, false or misleading conduct, they provide information on the safety regulations of the products/goods and more.

2. Does it only apply if you intend to deceive?  Explain?

Answer: If you deceive the organization by deliberately breaking or vandalizing a product and bringing it back expecting a refund -for example- a type of cream. If you poke a hole in the bottle and claim it was in this state when you bought it expecting a refund, the act applies if there is evidence of you breaking it. If the producer believes you did/didn’t do it, or doesn’t do anything -even though it’s wrong- the act still technically applies.

3. Whose ‘shoes’ must the business put themselves into?

Answer: The customers/consumers. They need to feel how the consumer feels. If they were a customer, they wouldn’t want to be misled.

4. What is the commission empowered to do?

Answer: The commission is empowered to influence the FTA act on the consumers, to make sure they know their rights and everything is fine on each side. They make sure the producers and companies are fair with each and every product, selling it to the consumers/customers, without click baiting or misleading. They can also control what is sold and what is not.

Reporting a business

1. If you need to report a business, how do you do this?

Answer: If you are looking to make a complaint, you’ll need to find the email address or phone number to the company you wish to ask. Make sure you understand the contract, talk to the business, make sure to stay calm, know what you are reporting, file the complaint, and keep records on the conversation. You can do this either online, by the phone, or visiting the local whereabouts.

Know your Rights

http://www.comcom.govt.nz/fair-trading/know-your-rights/