Shop Disclaimers

[IBM]

Can anyone give me the wording to some of the disclaimers you see in shops, such as 'we reserve the right the refuse service...', 'we will ask you to leave if...', 'if you trip over and break your neck, it's your own stupid fault' etc.

Maybe there's a government website out there detailing this sort of thing but I can't find it.

TIA

[Agent]

"Please remove your helmet before paying for petrol"

> No thanks, id imagine it would be quite painful


I wouldn't have thought specific wording was needed as long as it got the message across?

[IBM]

I'm looking for as many as I can find, then I can pick the ones that apply to me....just opened a shop and want to make sure that we're covered against as much litigation as possible.

I particularly like my previous wording of 'it's your own stupid fault' but I don't think it's quite the right way to say so....

[TeePee]

"Please remove your helmet before paying for petrol"


Seriously? Who does that?

[kickstart 1]

Dont ask for credit as a punch in the mouth tends to offend

[nichomach]

There's quite a few places that won't let bikers in if wearing helmets; indeed there was a furore locally about a pub that barred a fellow for wearing a baseball cap. Fair enough, the place had signs basically saying "take your hat off when you come in". The idea is that a biker's helmet or a hat or cap that obscures the face renders CCTV pretty much useless.

[Agent]

"Please remove your helmet before paying for petrol"


Seriously? Who does that?

All Tesco petrol stations, and a lot of others.

The part that narks me is that they wont allow you to pay at the side thing (the one thats used at night) in the day.
All I have to do is put the money on it and they give the change, but they always make an issue about it.

When travelling a distance though, its not just the helmet which is an issue.
Gloves come off first, so you can actually feel the clip on the helmet to undo it, then its the hood thats under it (keeps wind out and you warm, but makes you look like something out of Counterstrike), and its certain that the earplugs have fallen out by now too.

If your hands have been sweaty, its a royal pain getting them back into the gloves too. And if its raining, that's all the leak seals broken too.

I *always* pay by card now because of this. Can pay at the machine and not have to worry about taking a thing off.

Just don't get why they wont let us use the side payment bay.

There's quite a few places that won't let bikers in if wearing helmets; indeed there was a furore locally about a pub that barred a fellow for wearing a baseball cap. Fair enough, the place had signs basically saying "take your hat off when you come in". The idea is that a biker's helmet or a hat or cap that obscures the face renders CCTV pretty much useless.

The baseball cap is usually more of a social status thing, and to try and discourage chavs (certainly is around here anyway).

Thing is, in a petrol station, I doubt anyone would get questioned about wearing a cap and sun glasses on a nice day.
What about people who wear the veil (dare I mention it?) - should they be expelled from paying for petrol too?

The entire idea is stupid. I can see why they do it (typical knee-jerk reaction), but it just doesn't stand up.

Consider that a bloke is going to rob a station wearing a helmet - I hardly think that a sign or someone asking them to take it off is going to stop them trying.
The only people it hurts is the genuine ones that want to pay.

Its bad enough that they cant see that, but there is just no excuse for not letting people pay at the side kiosk.

Anyway, sorry for the thread hijack

[bigblue]

Don't worry about the disclaimers too much, unless you have very different policies from the norm. If you do have very different policies from the norm you'll need to write them yourself anyway !

I've run a few shops, on behalf of both small independents and big chains, and think I've only ever seen one disclaimer card on a counter in 13 years or so. Something along these lines was explained to me in training a long while back, fairly simply: "If it's serious enough that you're going to get sued, a piece of card won't save you"

I'm sure you know this anyway, but most of the things shops display are enforceable with or without a disclaimer. The main use of having it up on the wall is to make the consumer aware of your rights as a retailer. You don't necessarily forego these rights if you don't state them. On the other side, you can disclaim all you want but if it contradicts statutory rights it's non-enforceable.

The only big thing it's worth stating is your returns policy, if it's in any way better than the basic rights. It should ideally be on your receipt roll.

The only thing I would say is VERY handy to have nowadays is print outs of common queries from trading standards, or the relevant page saved to favourites on your shop PC. People see something on a website and take it as gospel and come in stating "I know my rights" when they're hopelessly misguided. See Bargains section of this very site for examples They simply don't take your word for it and you have to prove it either in print or on-screen.

The big ones at the moment are "I saw on watchdog/internet/magazine/mymatesaid that products have to last a reasonable time, so please repair my 4 year old product free, and sharpish". Or "my contract is with YOU so I don't want you to send it back, I want a new one RIGHT NOW". It's handly to have the explanations for those when they occur. Not if, when. Most definitely when

If you do have your own other rules, such as no hula-hooping in-store (... really ? killjoy!) then by all means put a card up, when starting out I s'pose it's better to have than have not, for your own peace of mind.

[finlay666]

If you do have your own other rules, such as no hula-hooping in-store (... really ? killjoy!) then by all means put a card up, when starting out I s'pose it's better to have than have not, for your own peace of mind.

Around me I'm sure I might see a no ginger people one soon

And both of my previous bosses were ginger

Mind one you might like to include is about incorrect change, maybe one that is lighthearted like
"shoplifters will be shot
survivors will be shot again
if you're still alive then we will press charges" (not including the shooting obv but on the same lines)

[bigblue]

Saw a nice one next to a parking spot in Jersey. "Any cars parked here, other than Jaguars, will be crushed"

[coco]

best to have " No unaccompanied children " keep the thieving little bar stewards out oh and NO CHAVS EVER unless your opening a sportswear shop

[Saracen]

......... On the other side, you can disclaim all you want but if it contradicts statutory rights it's non-enforceable. .........

Indeed. Not only may it be unenforceable, but it may get you prosecuted. A sign saying "No refunds" is not a smart move.

[Agent]

best to have " No unaccompanied children "

Presumably being accompanied by another child is fine then?

[alsenior]

enterence and exit signs dont work. the amount of times i have seen people walk into te exit door it's not funny anymore. also a sign that say please keep your eye on children /childish adults. the little runts can cause alot of damage very quickly.

[bigblue]

Indeed. Not only may it be unenforceable, but it may get you prosecuted. A sign saying "No refunds" is not a smart move.

Very true (and thanks for going to the bother of correcting my typo when quoting me )

It amazes me the amount of places that still try that though. Even big stores. Then follow it, in extremely small print with "this does not affect your statutory rights"

The refund policy is one of the trickiest things to get right when starting a new shop. Be too flexible and people will take advantage, not flexible enough and they won't buy in the first place. Whatever you decide, when people ask, explain it with a smile and people will think you're doing them a favour, deliver it at all apologetically and you're done for !

[Saracen]

Very true (and thanks for going to the bother of correcting my typo when quoting me )

No problem. But I have to confess I hadn't realised I had corrected it. I just saw the red underline in Firefox and corrected it without realising it was in the quote. I don't like making spelling misteaks in my own posts (and as my spelling is far better than my typing, there's certainly enough of them ), but I don't normally correct other people's - that seems to me to be a bit sort-of condescending, somehow. Besides, I make enough mistakes that I'd be setting myself up for a correctathon session if I corrected other people.

It amazes me the amount of places that still try that though. Even big stores. Then follow it, in extremely small print with "this does not affect your statutory rights"

Ah, the great universal get-out clause.

The refund policy is one of the trickiest things to get right when starting a new shop. Be too flexible and people will take advantage, not flexible enough and they won't buy in the first place. Whatever you decide, when people ask, explain it with a smile and people will think you're doing them a favour, deliver it at all apologetically and you're done for !

I find most people are reasonable, and expect reasonable back ..... but there's always a few, and I mean both customers and shops.

I've seen customers scream and shout about their rights, which can actually be hilarious when it transpires they think that "the customer is always right" is enshrined in legislation, somewhere. But I've also seen shopkeepers try all sorts of stunts to get out of doing what they're obliged to do by law ..... and all to often, succeed.

There are always those, on both sides of the counter, that will try for personal advantage, regardless of what is fair, reasonable or right. That is, after all, why consumer protection legislation was necessary in the first place.