Originally posted by connie
but no contract exists between the consumer and the manufacturer? i don't understand how it could be right, i think you would only get the mark if you put tort
This is all stuff from the consumers topic...
Privity of a contract means only the parties who made the contract are subject to its terms and conditions, BUT the laws of negligence (which apply here) operate independantly of privity, that is, people not involved in the contract whose negligence affect the contract can be sued under it. This means manufacturers can be made liable for harming the buyer of thier product, even if they were not involved in the contract of sale.
eg. Donoghue v Stevenson - a lady purchased a ginger beer in a brown bottle, halfway through drinking it she found a snail inside the bottle, and subsequently sued the manufacturer. The mabnufactere tried to argue they were not involved in the contract, but the court ruled against them and they had to pay damages.
This part of the consumers topic makes me think it was contract law... the Q is a bit unfair for those who didn't do consumers as an option though!