Q: I bought a dinner set from a local shop. When I went back home with it and unwrapped it, I found that some of the pieces were scratched.

I went back to the shop and the seller accepted to replace them. As he opened the new boxes, we saw that most of the new items were scratched too.

When I remarked how come there were so many scratched pieces, the seller replied that it was normal that they have scratches because they were machine made.

I would like to point out that before I bought the dinner set, one of the sales assistants told me that the set is scratch-resistant and on the seller’s website, this particular dinner set is advertised as extra strong.

Now they are telling me that if I find more scratches they will not accept to change them. Is new dinnerware supposed to have scratches? If in a year this dinnerware gets scratched, since during the sale I was told that it was scratch resistant and is being advertised as ‘extra strong’, do I have any rights?

A: New dinnerware is not meant to have scratches. Furthermore, if the dinner set was advertised as being scratch-resistant and extra strong, it should not get easily scratched.

As a consumer you are protected by the Consumer Affairs Act, which stipulates that goods bought must conform to the contract of sale. If they don’t, consumers may claim a free remedy.

This legal protection is valid for two years from the date of purchase. Just in case you may need to claim one of the legal remedies, it is important that you keep the proof of purchase to prove when and from where the defective goods were purchased.