Legal or illegal? Signs in shops and the law

Retailers love signs. The signs are generally upbeat and encouraging. But sometimes they take on a stern tone, such as when we buy something and are warned there will be “strictly no refunds”, or that if we break something we will have to pay for it. Many such signs are perfectly legal. Others operate in a grey area, however, and yet more are simply against the law. Do you know which is which?

1. Strictly no refunds on sale items

We all know that retailers have sales to shift stock they were unable to sell at full price. So the last thing they want when they have finally managed to sell you a three-piece leopard-print suit – albeit at a heavy discount – is to see you wandering back in to the store days later with the suit under your arm in search of a refund.

So they put up signs such as this. But it is against the law. When you buy something – and it doesn’t matter if you pay full price or get it at a 90 per cent discount – it has to be of an acceptable standard, fit for purpose and as advertised. If it does not comply with any of these three rules, you are entitled to get the product repaired or replaced, or to get a refund. No matter what the sign says.

The only exception is when the sign adds the postscript: “This does not affect your statutory rights.” If that phrase appears on the sign, the retailer is in the clear and you have no right to go looking for a refund or an exchange unless there is something wrong with the product in which case you are still protected by the law.

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2. Credit notes only on returned sale stock

Retailers who offer credit notes are doing so out of the goodness of their hearts, as they are under no legal obligation to entertain you just because you have decided you don’t want the product. So they deserve some, um, credit, themselves, but as with the no refunds sign, this is – potentially, at any rate – illegal, because they have to give you recompense of some kind if they sell you a faulty product.

3. Was €99.99, now only €9.99

When it comes to sales, signs boasting massive discounts are to be found everywhere.

If a retailer has crossed out one price and replaced it with a cheaper one, then whatever they are selling must have been on sale in the same shop, or a significant number of outlets in the case of a chain, at the higher price “for a reasonable time”. Sadly, when the people who wrote the law were writing it, they forgot to include any definition of what a “reasonable time” is, which is not very helpful.

The Competition and Consumer Protection Commission believes a product "should only be advertised as a discounted price for the same amount of time as it was available at the previous higher price". This would stop a retailer jacking up the price of a certain product from €50 to €100 for one day and then putting it on "sale" at €60 for three months.

That is not to say that retailers do that, although some might. While there is no legal definition of “a reasonable time”, common sense would suggest that a product should be on sale at the higher price for at least four weeks before the sale starts.

There is another way retailers can circumvent the rules governing sale signage. They can stock one single bottle of a particular wine at €30 for a month and then flood the shop with the same wine with a price of €15 and claim it is a half-price sale. And does it matter if the wine is only worth a tenner? Sadly not.

4. Not to be sold separately

Sometimes you will see a retailer breaking up a six-pack of a product and selling each component at a higher price. This carry-on is typically found in smaller shops. It might be annoying but it is not in breach of consumer legislation, as the sign is only a recommendation from the manufacturer. Although it is not against the law, manufacturers might not be pleased to learn their orders were being ignored by a retailer, so you could complain to them.

5. All garments left at owner’s risk

This sign is typically displayed in dry-cleaners, and it suggests that consumers have no comeback if things go wrong with the cleaning process. It does not, however, have any legal basis and by putting up a sign, a business does not absolve itself of all responsibility if things go wrong.

They are legally obliged to carry out the service you are paying them for with reasonable skill, care and diligence. If a dry-cleaner destroys the nice frock you wore only once because the bloke manning the machine went out for a smoke and left it lying in harsh chemicals for too long, they have to make things right – either financially or by repairing the garment if that is possible. Similarly, if they break loose buttons or tear something, you have a right to redress.

You might not get the full price back, but if the offer they make is not reasonable, you can go to the Small Claims Court. The rules change if you leave a delicate item in and the dry-cleaner expresses concern and asks you to sign a waiver – so don’t sign anything without giving it serious thought first.

6. The management is not responsible for accidents

This is yet more wishful thinking on the part of “the management”. Let’s say you and your children are in a playground and the swing falls apart while your child is mid-swing because the screws had badly corroded and breaks their arm and then cuts their knee on a rusty nail protruding from the nearby rocking horse. The management is at fault on both counts.

7. Cars parked at owner’s risk

You might think this sign has no legal basis because, after all, you are parking in a supervised car park and paying them to look after your car. You’d be wrong. There are no regulations governing car parks. By parking in a car park, you are entering into a private contract with the owner, and you agree to their conditions. If they have a sign up that tells you that all cars are parked at the owners’ risk, then whatever happens to your car is none of their concern.

8. No responsibility taken for lost or stolen items

This is exactly the sort of sign you see in a nightclub cloakroom. If you leave your coat into such a place only for it to be thieved by some ne’er-do-well, you might think you have some sort of comeback. After all, what is the point of a cloakroom if it can’t keep your coat safe? As with car parks, the sign absolves them. Under the law they have told you unambiguously about the terms and conditions of the contract, and you have accepted them. They have said they are not providing security for your jacket, only somewhere to put it, so if anything happens to it, it’s your lookout. In the absence of the sign, you could argue it is their responsibility as they have not warned you otherwise, but there is no guarantee that such a line would work.

9. Special offer

This simple sign breaks the rules because it does not make it clear what is so special about the offer. At the very least it must tell you what the price is now, what the price will be when the deal ends and when the deal will end.

10. If you break it, you buy it

This – or any derivative of this – is frequently seen in small shops selling expensive things. It is the kind of sign that fills the parents of small children with dread. But the reality is more complex than it might appear. If you break something in a shop and it is a genuine accident, they are going to struggle to make you pay for it. Even if they do manage to convince you to pay for it, under absolutely no circumstances can they demand you pay for the item before you leave the shop. Nor can they demand that you pay the full retail price.

If a shop can prove you were negligent in handling the goods, then the law may compel you to make restitution, but this would be capped by the court at the replacement cost and not the retail cost. It isn’t worth the hassle, though, so it is probably best to take care not to break anything.

11. The most ubiquitous sign in any shop is the price tag

This is where much confusion is to be found. There is a common assumption that we are entitled to get a product at whatever price it is marked at, even if it is wildly below the true price. This is not the case. The price is viewed in law as an “invitation to treat” – effectively the retailer is asking you to offer that price for their product. When you do, the retailer can choose to accept it or not. If the shop notices the mistake before cash changes hands no contract is in place and they can simply take it off you despite your protests. If they don’t notice the mistake and the sale goes through, however, the transaction stands.