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 Distance Selling Regulations and it’s important to be clear on what they cover and whether you can benefit from the protection they offer UK consumers.
Distance selling contracts are those which are concluded (you making your order and the retailer / e-tailer confirming your order) exclusively by ‘means of distance communication’. They cover websites, mail order catalogues and all advertising literature (whether addressed or junk mail) and broadcasts communicated via post, email, the internet, fax, TV or telephone (including pre-recorded messages). If you have physically met face to face at any point, or if it is with a shop which doesn’t make a habit of selling in this way, you won’t be covered and should look to Sale of Goods legislation instead.
Under the distance selling regulations, the goods must be delivered or the service carried out within the time period they have specified. If no time period is specified, then the statutory time limit is 30 days (unless you have agreed otherwise). If the supplier is unable to fulfil their obligations within 30 days, they must inform you before the end of the 30 day deadline. They may offer you an alternative date for delivery, but you are under no obligation to accept and are quite within your rights to ask for a full refund.
Traders must provide you with specific information in regard to their obligations and your rights before you confirm your order. This is called pre-contractual (or prior) information and is dealt with in the next section, along with information about invoking your cooling off rights, returns, refunds and replacements.
If you are fed up of junk mailings, phone calls etc, you should also check out the section on the Data Protection Act for more info.
- Know all the facts before you decide!
- Your right to cancel
- Returns and refunds
- Protection against card fraud for mail order goods and services
- I’ve been sent stuff I never ordered!
- Problems with deliveries and collections
Related posts:
Hi,
I was called by a company who claimed they were from Google offering to put my company website on the front page of google for £3.99. I asked the sales person if he was from google which he replied “yes” and asked if it was £3.99 which he agreed. I then recieved a paid inovice from Sherif ratings for £458.00.
I called the company to ask for an immediate refund because i was mis sold the service and has now left me in massive dept. They are refusaing to. Would the distance selling clause apply to this?
Im in real trouble and i’m not sure what to do.
Philip, I’m afraid the Distance Selling Regs only cover business to consumer contracts, not business to business. However, I’m fairly sure you would have a case to claim damages under the Misrepresentations Act 1967. see the opsi website at:
http://www.opsi.gov.uk/RevisedStatutes/Acts/ukpga/1967/cukpga_19670007_en_1
hi,i’d like to ask a question regarding a kitchen tv which i bought on 22nd december from an internet shop,recieved it the next day ,but the remote control doesnt work. The tv has no manual controls so it doednt work at all.I’ve phoned several times to the suppliers but feel like i’m getting fobbed off, beginning to lose faith,as they’ve now had our money for 3 weeks and the tv doesnt even work.There is power to the tv, and we have established that it is the remote thats faulty.Any advice would be good
Hazelmere, if the goods are faulty and haven’t even had the opportunity to use them, you can reject them and get a full refund. Write to them (email, fax OK) giving them 7 days to collect the goods and issue confirmation of refund. If they do not and you paid on credit card (or Visa debit) you can get your money back this way. If not, you will have to pursue costs through the small claims court.
Hi, I purchased a 50 inch plasma tv from Pixmania on 1/1/09 and have still not received it because it is out of stock. Since I initially purchased the tv, it has increased in price by £300 everywhere so even if I asked for my money back, I would have to pay extra to get it from somewhere else. I was told I could change my purchases for something of the same price, but all the tvs that were reduced at the time have all gone up in price so there is nothing the same at £700. Is there anything I can do or should I just ask for my money back? I am frustrated because I could have paid £20 extra at the time for the same tv but the price has gone up everywhere now to £999.
The most you are entitled to is a full refund, as the supplier has 30 days to deliver the item unless otherwise agreed, or is in breach of cantract. You could ask them if they would supply an alternative, higher priced item as a gesture of goodwill, but they ar under no obligation to do so. As an advertised price constitutes an “invitation to treat” they are not abliged to sell you a tv at the advertised price.
Hi,
i have a problem im unsure how to deal with. I recently ordered a fancy dress costume which afer 3weeks was still not delivered so i tryed ringing the company with no joy, I then emailed them asking where my order was but again no reply. So after a another week i emailed them again saying i didnt want the item to be sent anymore and that i wanted a full refund but again no reply. Iam in need of some advice on getting my money back?
Elizabeth, although this is very frustrating, as long as the shop has not incorrectly priced the item or refused to give you a refund, they have not broken the law. I’m afraid there is nothing you rightfully claim, although it’s probably worth requesting a goodwill gesture in view of the inconvenience you have suffered.
Kirsty, Under the distance selling regs, the item must be delivered within 30 days, unless otherwise stated. Have you checked the supplier out to make sure they exist and haven’t gone bust? If nothing further happens, you can get a refund if you paid on Visa Debit, or on credit card and the value was over £100. If you cannot do either of these and they have gone bust, I’m afraid you must wait in line with the rest of the creditors seeking to get their money back.
I am returning a large and heavy piece of furniture that was purchased over the internet but was found to be faulty when delivered. After a long winded email exchange quoting Distance Selling Regulations and Sales of Goods Act the company accepted it was faulty and agreed to organise collection and refund the full price. However, 21 days and two follow up emails later they have not yet organised collection. I know the regulations require refunds to be made within 30 days regardless of the goods being collected but how long I am obliged to retain the goods for? I do not have the space to store the item and assume they are being tardy to delay refunding or just to be spiteful.
Davos, just to quote from our Consumer Guides section on buying online:
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, this duty of care expires after 21 days, but where you have agreed to return the goods, your duty of care continues until you do this and could be for as long as 6 months.
I suspect that they are making you wait for the reasons you suspect. Write to them informing them that your duty of care expires after 21 days, but you will still have the right to a full refund plus delivery costs. Request action within the next 7 days (taking you up to the 30 days deadline) otherwise you will start proceedings in the small claims court.
Thank you for your reply. Could you clarify what happens after the 21 days duty of care expires? Can I notify them that I will be forced to dispose of the furniture if it is not collected within a week? The 30 days have passed and I have asked the credit card company to organise a refund as the supplier clearly has no intention of repaying the money or collecting the goods and I have no where to store the items.
Davos, after the 21 days expires, you are free to do whatever you like with the goods! As long as you have confirmation that the supplier has agreed that it is faulty, has agreed to collect it and has offered you a refund, then you can write to them giving them reasonable notice of your intention to dispose of the item.
I purchased a new DVD recorder with freeview from an internet site. It would not access most of the digital channels. This was not a signal problem as I have the same make of television with freeview and that does access the channels. I reported the problem within 7 days and have returned the item as I believe it is faulty but the supplier has tested it and said it is not faulty. Although I am to be refunded they are going to deduct courier charges for both delivery and returning the item. Can they do this and if not what part of the Sale of Goods Act do I quote?
A Walker, Aside from Sale of Goods, if you bought the item over the internet, you have cooling off rights under the distance selling regs. This applies even if you have opened the package because the regs are to provide you with the opportunity to try it out at home. Your cooling off period is 7 days and you must be given a full refund including any standard initial delivery charge. They can charge you for collecting the item but you must have been notified of this in the Ts and Cs before purchase. If you haven’t, they cannot impose this charge. Under Sale of Goods, they do not have to refund you on the delivery charges but cannot impose any fee for collection. Looks like you may have to pay one set of delivery charges whichever path you choose.
I brought a 42″ LCD Philips TV from Amazon. It is less than 2 years old and has developed a fault which makes it unwatchable (it keeps switching itself off or freezing with a blank screen and then it won’t turn off). I have reported this to them and politely asked if it would be possible to have the TV looked at/repaired but the reply I keep getting is
“As my colleague previously mentioned, all electronics item purchased from Amazon.co.uk come with a 1 year warranty from the manufacturer. Please be informed that we currently do not offer an extended warranty on the electronics items sold by the retail stores, unless otherwise stated.”
What would my next step be? Can I use the sales of goods act to get them to remedy this matter or do I need to report it to my credit card company? I can’t believe such an expensive item that stops being usable less than 2 years after being brought (and used carefully I may add) means I will have to pay to have it repaired.
Clive, the warranty is irrelevant, you still have rights under Sale of Goods for the expected lifetime of the product.Inform them that under S.48 Sale of Goods, you are entitled to request that the retailer provide you with a repair at no additional cost and in reasonable time. You are obviously getting nowhere with the first line of defence, so ask to have the problem escalated in accordance with their complaints procedure.
Last week I purchased a bed online from a reputable mail order company. The whole order process was relatively easy with no direction whatsoever by the company to get me to tick or read any of terms and conditions for the sale. When completing the sale / order my money was debited from my credit card straight away and I subsequently received a few minutes later a confirmation of order email with an approximate delivery period.
My problem is now the company are stating that the item was mispriced and that they are cancelling the order based on the wrong price yet they have offered my the same product at a higher price. How do I stand on getting this product at the price I paid. I have contested their reasons for cancellation however they are splurting on they can do this as set out in their T&Cs of which at no point did they make the available / direct me to read on any of the order screens nor on the final payment screen.
Can anyone help me, as I know I am not the only person who is affected by this
Hi there,
I ordered some software from a company online, who I thought were based in UK (had a .co.uk domain, prices listed in Sterling), then found out they are in fact US based! This means the software will have a US license and will be useless to me. I ordered on the 18th March, and the item still hasn’t been dispatched, and the company has ignored all my emails requesting the cancellation of my order (they don’t supply a telephone number, so email is my only method of contact, but they NEVER reply!). They took the money (£398!) from my account 2 days after I placed the order. If I refuse delivery, they will charge me a 50% restocking fee! Basically, they’re scammers, but I don’t know where I stand legally. Do distance selling regulations apply when ordering from the US? Also, this was a business purchase, so I am guessing I may not be covered by these regulations anyway?
I’ve opened a Visa dispute via my bank, so am hoping that this might help to get my money back, but could really use some advice that might help me out!
Many thanks,
Sarah
Jambo, this depends on when the contract was formed. The Ts and Cs should state at what time the agreement becomes a legally binding contract of sale. If it was at the time your confirmation email was sent then they are legally bound to accept the order at that price. If the contract is only formed when the bed is despatched for delivery, then they are able to change the price. However, the company may still have broken the law. See: http://whatconsumer.co.uk/misleading-commercial-practices-unfair-trading-regulations-2008/ for more.
Sarah, I’m afraid your rights under Distance Selling and Sale of Goods only apply to European consumers and European businesses, so you’re right on both counts. Your best chances of success lie with the Visa dispute.
Hi Catriona,
Thanks very much for the reply. That was what I suspected.
If anyone is interested, the company I purchased the goods from are called Bite Size Deals, and they are NOT a UK company, so when they fail to send your goods or you find that the goods they send you are not licensed for use in the UK there’s not much you can do about it other than approach your bank! Fingers crossed that my visa dispute is successful…
How does it work when I’m based in the USA and I purchased a mobile from a company based in the Bournemouth, Dorset, UK? I’m currently in dispute with the company because they’ve taken more than 2 months (sequentially) to facilitate 3 repair sessions (with only shipping back costs to me) for my mobile under the manufacturer’s warranty.
Taking more than a month for repairs falls under Distance Selling rules also?
I’ve already sent post to them (as recommended by Consumer Direct) declaring that the company is in probable violation of the Sale of Goods Act because the good is unsatisfactory, and the company took unreasonable time and extreme inconvenience in on-going repair, so I want an exchange/refund as alternative remedies.
The company continues to deny the latter remedies under the Act stating they’ve been acting promptly and satisfactorily, and somehow that aligns with the good being satisfactory, and the repair time reasonable, and that continuing to physically possess the mobile for repair is okay.
Now Consumer Direct recommends I send a 2nd post to declare that the company failed to resolve amicably, and then I need to file in small claims court. This involves a plane ticket, taking time off from work, finding a place to stay, filing paperwork, and so forth — very high hurdles just to get this company to comply.
Do I have any other more reasonable alternatives or solutions?
You should be able to file a small claims case online, thats what we can do here.
Here is the link to the site :
https://www.moneyclaim.gov.uk/csmco2/index.jsp
My partner (who is a sole trader) was contacted by phone by a charity called Foresters Fund for Children. They railroaded him into taking out an advert, the cost of which he was not told over the phone. Since then, he has received letters from Vardis demanding payment of £400+. My partner has not signed any paperwork. Neither has he seen evidence that his advert has been published.
Please can you advise what his rights are in stopping Vardis pursuing this “debt”.
Are internet auction site sales exempt from the long distance selling regulations?
No ebay and alike are not exempt from DSR regulations. If the seller is a business seller and the item is offered / purchased on a BUY IT NOW, not an auction, listing then you are covered by DSR regulations just as you would be when buying from any other online retailer.
i have recently brought some goods over the internet, i purchased these goods over paypal.
i brought a garment, which was not priced, i then payed the appropriate postage and packaging,
the company then refunded me stating that it was a website fault.
is this correct practice? or am i entitled to receive my goods, as i purchased them at the price stated, it was not a fault of mine that the website did not price the goods correctly.
thanks, k
Most companies have a clause in their terms that state an order is only completed and accepted once the order has been shipped. Although you have made an order / payment, your payment / order is only classed as an offer to buy the goods. The company don’t have to sell it if the item was mispriced, the price you saw was only an invitation to buy, which will be subject to their terms of sale.
hi, I got a mobile phone contract through t-mobile, they called me. the first handset they sent me was faulty so i had it exchanged within the first 7 days and now the second handset has gone faulty with the same sort of faults but tmobile are washing their hands of it and telling me i have to send it for repair as im outside their initial 7 day cooling off period?! surely they have to exchange it as the handset is not fit for purpose, it keeps turning itself off randomly. Is there anything i cao do to get an exchange?
I broughts some dell laptop on the internet from currys, which one of then has now stop working, i was told to take it back into the store and it will be fixed, getting to the store i was advised that the information on the receipt dose not match my dell laptop therefore teh warrant dose not cover the laptop and they dont have to fix it. can someone please help me, can they do this, i did not notice that i was sent the wronge goods.
Hi there,
My husband bought a Dell Vostro which is 11 months old as an upgrade on an insurance claim to replace a previous Dell laptop (who’s battery caught alight). The screen of this fairly new laptop was damaged a few weeks ago when my husband rotated the laptop by using his thumb and index finger on the mid right hand side of the plastic screen surround so that he too could share the article that I was reading on the net. We returned the laptop to Dell who claim that the damage caused to the laptop is not covered by the warranty which expires in July and they wish to charge us £160 plus VAT for repair.
I would like to know what our statutory rights are as we are now left with a redundant laptop which is less than a year old. We do not wish to replace the screen for a similar one in fear that this happens again a further 11 months down the line. Can you please advise?
Technically the fault has come about by mis-handling aka customer neglect. Even if only an accident. The turning of the laptop by the monitor caused a non manufacturing fault therefore any manufacturer will decline any warranty repair, particularly when it is not a manufacturing fault. Your best bet would be to see if are covered for the damage on your home insurance or any policy still running for the laptop itself.
I purchased an iPod Nano from Comet 21 months ago, after 18 months of use it has failed. I wrote to them quoting the Sale of Goods Act and asking if they would repair/replace/refund. This is the reply I received.
“The Sale of Goods Act 1979 (as amended) does not require goods to remain fault free or fit for purpose until the end of their accepted working life. It only holds the retailer responsible for faults present at the date of purchase. It does not hold the retailer responsible for faults that develop after purchase, as the Act is not the equivalent of a guarantee.
As the iPod was purchased more than 6 months ago, the Sale of Goods Act 1979 (as amended) requires the purchaser to prove that the fault was present from the date of purchase. In the circumstances, we are unable you meet your request for a free repair or replacement.”
Is this correct? What can I do?
As Comet have mentioned you need to prove that the fault has existed since you have owned it, such as previous repairs or exchanges performed due to faults.
IF the retailer specified a warranty period of 12 months they have met their obligations. If no period was specified at all stand your ground and seek a repair of the item. However, most retailers will have a 12 month warranty as specified on their receipt or supporting documentation. I would seek assistance from the manufacturer and see how they are prepared to help, most manufacturers, such as Apple, offer a 24 month warranty. If such warranty exists it would now be between consumer and manufacturer, so any returns would be at A) your cost B)dependant on the warranty information supplied on the documentation by the manufacturer with your Ipod Nano.
I bought a Japanse style dress from a website that was in a sale. Unfortunately, when it arrive it doesn’t fit. I’d like a refund. The company’s website says that it only issues a credit note for returned discounted goods and that it charges a £5 restocking fee for returns. Does this mean I won’t get my money back?