UK mulls blanket ban on unfair commercial practices
The Government has asked retailers to comment on draft legislation that will force them to "deal fairly" with customers and other businesses. Two new regulations are proposed, scheduled to come into force on 6 April 2008. The new rules implement an EU Directive, the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive (UCP). That directive …
>> Wrong information about availability
So claims about how fast broadband will actually be will fall into that category, getting rid of the marketing that assumes everyone lives on top of the exchange and has dedicated fibre connections.
Also unlimited should go too? Surely limiting something described as unlimited is misleading?
As part of the "tidy up" of legislation. Hmm. I bet there's a bunch of internet mail-order companies who would love that sucker to get buried.
"The Government has asked retailers to comment "
Wouldn't it do better to start by asking consumers?
How many banks and building societies are going to come up with useful examples of unfair practices that should be prohibited, like paying lower interest rates to existing customers.
How many insurance companies will suggest that renewing customers should never be asked to pay more than new customers?
There are countless examples of blatantly unfair business practices such as the above, and if any legislation is to have any teeth it has got to start by identifying them and ensuring that those practices will be STAMPED OUT, not merely dressed up with legislation that allow the perpetrators to clarify their wording in a manner which preserves the legality of the unfair practice instead of preventing it altogether.
"if it or its overall presentation in any way deceives or is likely to deceive the typical consumer"
... Does this mean now then, that when Orange sell me, for example, a Nokia 6680, that they have to actually give me the Nokia 6680, and not the bastardized version that they actually gave me?
... enough people mailorder cd's/dvds from outside the EU because of industry price fixing... errr... region coding, etc, sorry... it then becomes an action of a typical consumer and the record/movie industry becomes a criminal.
They have taken a transactional decision based on the business practises...
... and then I woke up
Asking "the industry" to comment is surely just checking with them to ensure the proposed rules wont affect what they do already; which at the end of the day is exactly what "the industry" will be checking when they review it. Of course the industry is good and the proposed legislation is aimed at crooks and hucksters...
