What are the responsibilities of consumers?

Consumers are responsible for finding out what their rights are and exercising those rights. They may protect their own interests by recognizing, collecting evidence of, and reporting, any breaches of the Act to the Fair Trading Commission. Not all matters fall under the Act. In such cases, consumers should take their complaints to the Consumer Affairs Commission. Most importantly, consumers should “vote with their feet”: they should not continue to support merchants who offer poor quality products, charge high prices, fail to honour their obligations or provide poor service. Instead, they should take their custom to merchants who provide top quality products at competitive prices. Such action by consumers is the best way to ensure the best outcome for consumers.