How long is a piece of string?

By THIS IS MONEY
Updated:

 

I stopped on a country road to buy strawberries. The price of each punnet was displayed but not the weight. Was the seller breaking the law, or is the sale of some products not governed by weights and measures legislation? W.F.G., Devon

Ball of string

Simon Moon from This is Money replies: You are right to suspect that some of the things we buy are not covered by weights and measures laws, which is where string comes in along with a surprising variety of everyday items.

Though a punnet can be any size – the name comes from the Old English word for a pound – the law requires anyone selling soft fruit to make the quantity known to the buyer. This can be done through a sign on the stall, a ticket attached to the punnet or by the seller telling the buyer what the weight is.

Strawberries aside, there are many items that are bought and sold every day where the quality or quantity is not governed by any rules. For example, if you buy an ice-cream cone from a van you have to rely on the generosity of the person with the scoop.

Similarly, a burger or a sandwich you buy ready to eat can be as big or as small as the seller makes it.

Gerry Dutton is the Trading Standards Institute's expert on these matters. He says the general rule is that food that requires some element of preparation, such as a bag of potatoes, is covered by the Weights and Measures Act, but food that is sold ready to eat, such as a bag of chips, is not.

One problem for consumer watchdogs is keeping up with changes in the way we live. While there are strict rules about how carpeting can be sold, these do not apply to laminate flooring which has replaced carpets in many homes. The reason is that laminate flooring was not around when the laws were last updated.

Gerry says there will soon be a review to help law makers catch up. Details of the review, and how the public can have their say, will be published on the National Measurement Office website.

One item that is sure to be covered when changes take effect is printer cartridges. At present there are no rules to safeguard consumers from being sold cartridges that may be almost empty.

But what about the big question? I asked Gerry Dutton how long a piece of string should be when it's sold by a retailer. 'I wish I knew the answer to that one,' he said. 'The law governs the sale of bias binding, tape, elastic, ribbon and sewing thread – but not string.'

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