trument cluster on Ms. Hinchen first trip to the dealership in July 2003 which caused her continuing electrical problems. Ford further argued that the electrical problems present in the vehicle were corrected and repaired after the correct instrument cluster was put in the vehicle. The jury awarded Ms. Hinchen $ 15,312.10 and allowed her to keep the vehicle until the end of the lease.
All similar affairs were resolved for the benefit of consumers. To this promoted Lemon Law. This law has been developed by legal firm to strengthen rights of the consumer across the nation. The western representatives of jurisprudence try to develop laws which can be used in practice. These laws work on advantage of consumers. p> A lot of consumer law is basic contract law. The consumer must show that has had a contract with the supplier of goods or services, showing that the supplier is in breach of this agreement, and convince the supplier that he would have a good chance of winning if he took the case to court.
Contracts between are businesses are usually full of detailed agreements about who should supply what, when, where and at what price, but every day transactions involving private individuals are more informal.
The consumer must show that a contract has been implied by law. To help him there are consumer law implying certain terms into consumer agreements. In English law, for example, the 1979 Sale of Goods Act implies a term that the seller has a right to sell. This protects the honest buyer from a seller who had no right to sell goods because they had been stolen. Another implied terms is that goods correspond to any description given to the buyer. The 1982 Supply of goods and Service Act implies similar terms regarding services. It also implies that services be provided with reasonable care at a reasonable cost and within a reasonable time. In deciding what is reasonable an English court will refer to similar previous cases. However, the most important guideline is usually common sense in the context of the transaction in question.
Where goods are concerned, the implied terms are conditions. This means that the buyer has the right to discharge the contract - to refuse the goods - if the terms are breached. He may also be entitled to damages. But where services are concerned, the implied terms are intermediate stipulations . This means that the consumer may only refuse the services if this is reasonable in the circumstances. The court may decide that he must accept work which has been done, but award him damages where the work has been done badly or too slowly or at too high a cost.
A difficult problem in consumer law is deciding who is responsible when goods are lost in delivery or delivered late. If no express agreement has been made about this, the Sale of Goods Act provides complicated rules. In general, the buyer has no responsibility until the time he takes possession of the goods. If goods arrive late he may be able to discharge the contract (refuse delivery) if he can show that time was of the essence (of vital importance). Sometimes this is implied by the nature of the transaction - For example, a contract to deliver fresh food or newspapers. In other cases, the consumer may make time of the essence by specifying a time for delivery.
Another difficult problem is that of exemption clauses. These are warnings to the consumer by the supplier that no responsibility will be accepted in the case of loss, damage or injury. For example, dry-cleaning businesses often have notices on a wall or on the back of tickets refusing responsibility for damage to clothes. Sports clubs warn that they are not liable if members injure themselves using their equipment.
The law about exemption clauses varies from country to country, but in general it is important for the consumer to know that not all such clauses are valid. In Britain and the US, for example, a party trying to avoid responsibility must show that the exemption clause was part of the contract with the customer and that it covered the problem in question. The clause is more likely to be part of the contract if it is and a document signed by the customer or was written in a place all customers could read it.
Responsibility for loss or damage or loss can only be avoided if this would be deemed reasonable.
One of the fastest-growing areas of consumer law is product liability - responsibility for damage or injury caused by faulty goods. During the 1960s, a series of cases in the US established the principle that consumers need only to show damage, effect, and a relation between the two.
In Japan, consumers still have to prove not only that there was a defect leading to damage, but that this was a result of the producer's clear negligence. Consumers complain that it is extremely difficult for them to win cases, partly beca...
