Consumer ProtectionJoanne Liu, Victoria Braithwaite, Amelia Coulthart, Isabella Starr and Chelsea Kesby

There are laws in place to protect consumers need to be protected against false and misleading claims that can be found on the packaging of products and also in advertisements. The laws are also in place to protect consumers against dishonest behaviour by salespeople or service providers.

Why are there laws in existence that protect consumers?

Who can you contact to get advice on whether your rights as a consumer have been violated?As a consumer, you can gain advice on your rights by contacting the company that you bought your product. If you have any concerns, the first place to go is the provider or manufacturer of your chosen product. From there, if you were not able to find the acquired information, you could do an on-line search for a government approved website containing information regarding your chosen area of question. If the violation is very serious and can deeply affect you, then you might want to consider consulting a lawyer but only do this if it is extremely necessary and serious otherwise you might be wasting a lot of money.

In what circumstances are you bale to get a refund for a purchase?

As a consumer, you are protected by law against faulty products. If your product is deficient, you are often able to ask for a refund. You can ask for a refund if the problem with the product is major - this may include breakage or false promises that the product does not live up to. The likeliness for getting a refund on a product is affected by four features - the type of product, how a consumer is likely to use the product, the length of time for which it is reasonable for the product to be used and the amount of use it could reasonably be expected to tolerate before the failure becomes noticeable. A retailer cannot refuse to help you if your product does not measure up to what it is promised to be and it is likely that you will get a refund if your product is deficient, broken or is not what is was promised to be.

In what circumstances are you able to get a refund for a purchase? Paid for something that never arrived? As a

consumer, you have a right to complain, something that the Office of Fair Trading. If you have not been able to resolve a problem with a business or trader you can lodge a complaint. Bought faulty goods? If a dispute cannot be settled by the parties involved we will try to conciliate the matter with the trader steps:

Step 1: Try to resolve your complaint first  Step 2: Refer your complaint to the relevant industry

association Step 3: Understand how we handle your complaints Step 4: Make an official complaint to us