The fact that the present piece of legislation that regulates commercial activities to with the Sale of Goods Laws 1987 contains majorly a blanket provision applicable to both consumers and non consumer raises concern. The view that the law should provide greater or different protection for consumer as opposed to non consumer (commercial parties) is a familiar one.ii This view is not without justification as a distinction is seen in the belief that the consumer’s inexperience and inequality of bargaining power may put him at a disadvantage at the stages of a sale. The consumer may lack adequate knowledge of customs and practices in that area of sale or even be naive to fall flat to the gimmick of a seller.
At the point of delivery of goods purchased, a consumer may be less observant than a commercial buyer in scrutinizing goods delivered to him. It may not be reasonable to expect the same standard of reasonableness in both cases. Where goods delivered to a consumer buyer does not meet the demands of the consumer, inexperience and lack of resources may greatly diminish his ability to enforce his right; where exclusion clause inserted into the contract does not stand as a stumbling block. Most times the buyer being unaware of the existence of such clauses or with no knowledge of their consequences fall prey.
The justification for the provision of different legal covering in each of the cases above mentioned has found expression in a number of statutory provisions on sale of goods. The view of some common law jurisdiction is apposite for a better understanding. In Britain, the Supply of Goods (Implied Terms) Act 1973, defined a consumer contract as where
(a) the buyer neither acts in the course of business nor holds himself out as doing so; and
(b) the seller acts in the course of business; and
(c) the goods are of a type ordinarily bought for private use or consumption.
It further provides that the operation of exemption clause in contracts like this will be different from their operation in other contract of a general commercial nature.This is not contemplated or provided for under the Sale of Goods Law, as same blanket provisions apply to both consumers and non consumers.