Different Areas of Law

Question: Manny and Bella are married and since 2008 they have run a pizza business in the city. They call the business Perfect Domino Pizza. They visit the showroom of Tuscan Ovens Pty. Ltd to buy a new pizza oven for their business. They tell Tuscans manager that they must have a heavy duty which will cook at least 30 pizzas every hour for 16 continuous hours every day. Manny tells the manager that such an oven is required otherwise I will lose customers at the peak hours. The manager assures Manny and Bella that the new Tuscan XX commercial oven will satisfy their requirements. As a result of the managers statements and recommendations, Manny and Bella purchase the oven for $15,000. While they are waiting for the delivery of the new pizza oven Manny and Bella advertise the new oven for their restaurant but they decide to refer to it as the MB Oven and not mention the real registered name, Tuscan XX. Soon after the new oven is installed, they discover that it can only cook 12 pizzas per hour and is unreliable. Due to these problems the pizza business is losing money. Tuscan will not discuss any complaints from Manny and Bella. Discuss the different areas of law from topics in Week 6, 7 and 8 that emerge from these facts. Be sure to explain who may take legal action and what remedies and penalties could be applied. Cases and statutes should be used. Chapters 18, 19, 23, 24 and 28 should be considered. Answer: Many and Bella are married since the year 2008 and they owe a pizza business together in the city. The name of their pizza business is Perfect Domino Pizza. Many and Bella realized that they require a new oven for the running of their business and to buy a new oven they visited Tuscan Ovens Pty. Ltd. according to their specifications they wanted an oven that had the capability of making 30 pizzas every hour for continuous sixteen hours each day. The Manager of Tuscan Ovens Pty. Ltd guaranteed Manny and Bella that the oven shall meet the requirements. Hence, Manny and Bella purchased the oven for $15,000. Manny and Bella advertised the Tuscan XX oven with a different name and called it MB Oven. After installing the new oven, it was seen that the oven was not matching the requirements and it could make only 12 pizzas in one hour. Many and Bella started to doubt the reliability of the oven they purchased. Because of this, Manny and Bella started to suffer a loss for the oven due to the incapability of the oven for not baking 30 pizzas. Based on the facts, the issue that arises here is whether Tuscans Ovens Pty Ltd can be held liable for misleading or deceptive conduct or can Manny and Bella be held liable for fraudulent action for not advertising the oven in its original name. The consumer law of Australia includes a set of rules that provides protection to the persons or organizations who are consumers of any services or goods. According to section 3 of the Australian Consumer Law, a consumer is a person who acquires or purchases goods or services for his personal and household purposes and such goods or services should not exceed the cost of 40 thousand dollars (Schwartz 2012). The Australian Consumer Law came into force on January 1, 2011. The ACL is a single statute that is used for the protection of consumer rights in Australia. Section 4B of the Trade Practices Act has also described the word consumer (Brocke and Rosemann 2010). Section 18 of the Competition and Consumer Act, 2011, deals with misleading or deceptive conduct of the retailers or sellers. Section 18 of the Competition and Consumer Act, 2011, deals with the conduct of the seller or retailer. As per this section, a seller or a retailer should not conduct any behavior that may be considere d as misleading or deceptive in nature. This can be collectively termed as misrepresentation of facts by the seller to the consumer. Misrepresentation of facts means, the seller or the retailer have stated facts that are not true in nature and the given product or service has not matched with the requirements of the customer. In the famous case of ACCC V. TPG, TPG was held liable by the High Court for misleading advertisements that were made in relation to ADSL2+ services. In the advertisement it was said the cost of ADSL2+ services shall be inclusive of all the prices however, at the time of installation it was seen that the company demanded additional charges apart from the installation charges (Kolivos and Kuperman 2012). The High Court held such an act as misleading or deceptive and the court held TPG liable for violation of Section 18 of the ACL and Section 52 of the Trade Practices Act. If we apply the judgment on the given case scenario, it may be concluded that the manager of Tuscan can also be held liable for misleading or deceptive conduct (Bridge 2015). Similarly, it may be held that the manager of Tuscan Ovens Pty Ltd. misled Manny and Bella. At the time when they had gone to buy the oven, the Manager ensured that the oven shall cook 30 pizzas; however, later it was found that the oven could only bake 12 pizzas in one hour. Since the Manager misrepresented the facts, Manny and Bella suffered huge monetary loss and consequently they had to bear fiscal responsibilities. Hence, Manny and Bella can file a suit against the Manager of the Tuscan Ovens Pty Ltd for misleading or deceptive conduct. A business should not indulge in any activity that is misleading or deceptive in nature or any act that has the likelihood of causing deception in nature. Section 18 of the Australian Consumer Law, provides the following remedies to the consumer who has been deceived or misled by the seller, they are as follows, injunction, damages or compensation (Farrington and Palfreyman 2012). Chapter 5 of the Australian Consumer Law deals with the damages or remedies that shall be provided to the consumer whose rights have been violated. Section 18 allows persons to seek remedies in case they have suffered a loss for the violation of the rights contained in the Australian Consumer law (Latimer 2012). In the same way, Manny and Bella can also be held liable for misleading or deceptive conduct. Manny and Bella used a different name of the oven and advertised the oven with some other name. This means that they also intended to mislead their customers and this why they may also be held liable for misleading or deceptive conduct. Hence, Manny, Bella and the Manager can be held liable for breach of section 18 of the Australian Consumer Law. The consumer law of Australia is regarded as the most indispensable law in Australia for the protection and conservation of consumer rights. 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