Sale of Goods Act

Say, you have bought a faulty garden chair from your local supermarket and it has broken during use and resulted in you seriously injuring your back. What do you do? What are your rights against the retailer whom you purchased the chair from?

Well, the Sale of Goods Act 1979 is the legislation you need to know and understand in these circumstances.

What is the Sale of Goods Act and what does it state?

When you purchase any goods, whether they be from a supermarket or via mail order, you enter in to a contract with the seller of those goods. The Sale of Goods Act states that those goods must be:

1. Of ‘satisfactory quality’ – this should take in to account the description of the product, the price etc and what a reasonable person would consider to be ‘satisfactory’.
2. As described – if you purchase a tin of beans and get home to find it is tomatoes, it is not as ‘described’!
3. The quality of the goods you have been sold must be ‘fit for purpose’. This means that the goods must fit their everyday purpose e.g. you should be able to sit on your garden chair without fear that it will break beneath you (this does not take in to account wear and tear!). Not only should it be fit for everyday ‘obvious’ purposes but it should also be fit for the purpose you agreed with the seller.
4. If you have purchased the goods from a ‘sample’ then the goods must be of the same quality and attributes. This is common when purchasing a carpet, for example, the seller will normally bring samples to your home and you then order the correct amount from that sample. You would expect the whole carpet to be of the exact same quality as the sample you were sold.

How will I prove my claim against the retailer?

If the fault occurs/comes to light within the first 6 months of you purchasing the item then it is up to the retailer to prove that the goods were sold to you as described (or any of the other above points). They will also need to prove that the fault was as a result of your own negligence or due to wear and tear. As you can imagine, this can be very difficult for many retailers!

However, note; if you find a fault after 6 months of purchasing the item then it is up to YOU the purchaser, to prove that the fault was the result of the retailer. It is likely that you will need expert evidence to help prove your claim as it will be difficult for you alone to prove a technical fault.