Consumer
protection law:
The consumer protection is a legislation that deals
with misleading or false statements. The false and misleading statements may be
made in relation to holidays, travel arrangements and prices. The consumer
protection law is very important which means that if any of the legislations
are breached it will lead to penalties which could be fines or a prison sentence.
Organisations within the travel and tourism sector will need to ensure
that the statements and information that they provide to their customers are
not false or misleading. By making false statements or misleading customers the
organisation that is providing the false statements will be punished for
breaching the legislation. It is important that all information is accurate and
reliable so that there is no misunderstanding as the consequences may be high for
the provider who provides false or misleading statements. An example of
misleading statements can be false prices for holidays. If this is the case
that a tour operator has been misleading customers with false prices it would
mean that they are breaching the legislation.
Uberrimae Fidei:
Uberrimae Findei is a Latin phrase which has the meaning of “utmost good
faith”. This phrase is commonly used
during insurance contracts. It is used in insurance contracts as it states that
all parties within the insurance contract must act in good faith. This is so that the parties involved will
make a full declaration of all material facts in the insurance proposal.
Dealing in good faith can be used in other contracts as well. If organisations
such as tour operators use good faith it means that they will provide all the
information truly based on what they will offer the customer in the holiday
package. This will also help to prevent misleading and false information to the
customer.
Trade description
act 1968:
The trade discrimination act 1968 is an important act for customers and
people who have suffered from misleading descriptions. The trade discrimination
act imposes penalties for giving false statements to customers. Penalties are
given to the tour operators or any other industry in all organisations when
they know that they are misleading their customers by knowing that they are
providing the customers with false information whilst they are acting recklessly.
The only way in which the travel agent or airline will be able to defend
themselves is by proving that it was a mistake and that they were not trying to
mislead the customer. The defendants can
also claim that it was an accident. The penalties and compensation for each
offense are £2000.00 or an unlimited fine and a prison sentence.
Consumer
protection act 1987
The consumer protection act 1987 prohibits misleading price indications
to customers. This includes the misleading to the price of all goods, services
facilities and accommodations. The way in which prices can be misleading is if
the price is more than the price given. This means that if a consumer has to
pay more than what the price is actually set at then the consumer protection
act is being breached and it will lead to consequences for the travel agent.
In order for defences to be put forward there will need to be proof of
the pricing list. This means that the industries that mislead the customer will
need to prove that the price was not an advertisement but that the price can
also be found in a brochure or pricing book. The fines and penalties for
breaching the consumer protection act 1987 can be unlimited depending on the
situation.
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