The Distance Selling Regulations are very clear on this. If you’ve been sent unsolicited goods, you are entitled to treat them as an unconditional gift and do with them as you choose. You are not required to keep them for any amount of time and you are certainly not required to pay for them. Any [...]
June 30th, 2008 | Catriona | 0 comments | ContinuedConsumer Rights
Protection against credit card fraud for mail order goods and services
We will discuss this later in reference to the Consumer Credit Act, but for goods and services paid for under a distance selling contract, you are protected against fraudulent use of your payment card. If you ever find an entry on your bank statement for a sum of money that you did not authorise, in [...]
June 30th, 2008 | Catriona | 0 comments | Continued
Returning mail order goods
Unless you are required to return the goods, and you were informed of this, your only obligations are to make the goods available for collection and to take reasonable care of them while they are in your possession. This is called a duty of care. Where the supplier has made provision to collect the goods, [...]
June 30th, 2008 | Catriona | 0 comments | Continued
Mail order - your right to cancel
One of the most important implications of the distance selling regulations is a cooling off period of 7 days during which you have the right to cancel. The supplier must provide you with details of your cancellation rights, any duty to return the goods should you cancel, and whether you will have to pay for [...]
June 30th, 2008 | Catriona | 0 comments | Continued
Mail Order and Distance Selling - know the facts
If you’ve ever ordered a product or commissioned a service in this way, the seller has certain obligations, and you have certain rights which are worth knowing. Firstly, the supplier must provide you with ‘prior information’ in respect of identity of the supplier, description of the main characteristics of the product or service, price, delivery [...]
June 30th, 2008 | Catriona | 0 comments | Continued
Mail Order Goods and Distance Selling
Is mail order stuff any different?
Absolutely. It’s highly likely that at some point you will have bought something over the phone or on the internet, and unlike buying something in a shop, it’s a situation whereby you are not physically face to face with the supplier. What we are talking about here are the [...]
It cost me a fortune!
In many situations, the price is not agreed at the outset – such as having your hair cut, taking the car for a service or taking a taxi, and in such cases the assumption is that you will be charged a reasonable price. However, problems tend to arise where a service is commissioned, exact price [...]
June 30th, 2008 | Catriona | 0 comments | Continued
They are taking forever to do the work!
The second assumption is that the work will be carried out within reasonable time. This assumption is only valid if timeframe has not been agreed as part of the contract. Once reasonable time has elapsed you would not be entitled to terminate the contract, but you would be able to give reasonable notice, providing a [...]
June 30th, 2008 | Catriona | 0 comments | Continued
He was a complete cowboy!
Firstly, there is the assumption that the supplier will act with ‘reasonable care and skill’. This causes the greatest number of disputes and complaints simply due to the subjective nature of what is reasonable, and for this reason a court will take into account the nature of the service, the nature of the supplier and [...]
June 30th, 2008 | Catriona | 0 comments | Continued
What about promises made verbally?
Many disputes arise due to statements or assurances made verbally during the negotiation stage, but not incorporated into a written contract. This does not mean they are not legally binding, but they are harder to prove. If you have been promised something which causes you to enter into a contract, which then turns out not [...]
June 30th, 2008 | Tony | 0 comments | Continued
