Buying from a market trader

Markets are usually known for good bargains and low-priced products. As consumers, we often manage to find products at a price well below that of a normal retail shop.

Another advantage of markets is that we may find a variety of products in one place, therefore buying from a market may also be seen as a time-saving shopping experience.

There are, however, some disadvantages too. Doubt about quality of products purchased is one of these disadvantages. Some of the brands sold are often ones we have never heard of before.

There is also the risk of purchasing products which, when we start to use them, either do not work or do not do what the market trader promised us they would. When this happens, very often we simply make a mental note not to buy certain products from a market again.

But this is not the right attitude. Even when we buy from a market trader, no matter how much money we spend, as consumers we have specific rights and these should be honoured.

As with when we buy products from a retail outlet, the goods we purchase from a market trader must also be as described or promised by the trader, and must befit the purpose the products are intended for.

If these criteria are not met, we have a legal right to request a remedy that can either take the form of repair or replacement. If none of these remedies is possible or is significantly inconvenient, we may also request our money back.

Sometimes, even though we may be conscious of these rights, we tend to give them up because we think it might be difficult to find the market trader who originally sold us the products. In actual fact, this should not discourage us at all. Usually, market traders can be found in the same locality, same place, week after week.

The market trader has the same legal responsibilities towards consumers as any other trader, and the price for which the products are sold do not affect these responsibilities. Hence, if as consumers, we end up purchasing defective products, we can return the goods to the trader and expect a remedy. A remedy can be claimed within the time-limit of two years from the date of puchase. However, once we notice a defect or a non-conformity to what was promised to us during the sale, it is our legal responsibility to inform the trader about the lack of conformity within two months of discovery.

Moreover, the law sets out the condition that if goods result faulty within six months of buying them, the trader must accept they were faulty at the time of sale or prove otherwise.

If, on the other hand, we had the goods for more than six months when something goes wrong, we can still ask for redress. But at this point, it is up to us to prove the goods were faulty at the time of purchase.

It is therefore important to keep the receipt or any other document that proves when the product was purchased and also from whom. Such information may also prove handy to find the trader should they decide to change the place from which they operate.

The only situations where the law does not protect us is when there is nothing wrong with the goods but we have simply changed our minds; or when we were aware of the defect before we bought the product or it was an apparent fault we could have noticed at the time of purchase.

Even when the problem is the result of normal wear and tear, or the goods have lasted for as long as could reasonably be expected, in such situations we cannot expect a remedy. These are our legal rights and regardless of the type of product or place where the product was purchased from, these rights do not change.

When these rights are breached, it is in our best interest to act immediately by speaking to the trader and asking for a form of redress.

If the market trader does not accept liability for the defective product, or offers a remedy that is not to our satisfaction, we should contact the Consumer and Competition Department on freephone 8007 4400 and lodge a complaint.

Ms Vella is senior information officer, Consumer and Competition Division.

customer@timesofmalta.com, odette.vella@gov.mt