People don't know their rights when they're shopping
On February 9th, we reported on studies by the Office of Fair Trading that said we dribblers who stare at computer monitors all day long know more about our consumer rights than ever before.
However, some government research reveals quite the opposite and that we're a bunch of slackjawed morons, all blindly walking into each other like idiots looking for the corners in a lighthouse.
Apparently, more than 60% of shoppers were less likely to take back goods bought online, compared with items purchased direct from shops.
We consumers also appear to have no idea about our legal rights when it comes to refunds. Did you know about the right of a seven-day cooling-off period? No. You didn't, because someone else said so.
Yet, despite all this, us lot based in the UK are ranked as Europe's biggest online shoppers. We spent £38bn on useless shit last year... that's 10% of everything we bought in retail terms.
This research was carried out by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills for a Know Your Rights campaign run by the government-funded Consumer Direct.
They discovered that three-quarters of UK consumers didn't know there were differences between online and high street consumer rights.
In fairness, the survey also showed that consumers didn't have the foggiest when it came to shopping in actual shops on the high street. One in ten (a number on a leest!) believed that you couldn't return stuff after they'd left the store. Blithering idiots.
The consumer minister, Kevin Brennan, said: "It is important we all know that most online goods can be returned with no questions asked within seven days. We want confident consumers who can assert their rights and get a good deal."
Michele Shambrook, operations manager for Consumer Direct, said: "We want consumers to be more confident when shopping on the high street or online. People who are knowledgeable about their rights are more likely to get a fair deal, save money and resolve problems when things go wrong."
[Guardian]
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