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What to do if you run into problems when you make purchases at home

Have you ever asked yourself – when you were buying something from a catalog, over the telephone, or on the Internet – “What if something goes wrong with this transaction? How difficult would it be to straighten it out?”

Jodie Bernstein, director of the Federal Trade Commission’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, emphasizes that the same policies, procedures and laws that safeguard shoppers in traditional “brick-and-mortar” stores extend to consumers using these newer forms of commerce.

“Shopping from home can be fast and convenient, and if you take a few precautions, you can be assured that your consumer rights are protected,” Bernstein said.

National Consumer Protection Week (February 14^th through 20^th) has as its theme this year “Armchair Armor: Shopping Safely from Home,” and is designed to show consumers how to protect themselves when they shop with online or catalog companies, telemarketers or door-to-door sales representatives.

“It’s an exciting new world for shoppers, and we want their experiences to be positive ones,” Bernstein said.

Be aware of the safeguards
One of the goals of the National Consumer Protection Week campaign is to encourage consumers who shop from home to follow these practices and understand their rights:

• Know the seller’s address and reputation.
• Keep written records of everything.
• Find out what the company’s return policy is before ordering.
• Under FTC regulations, you have the right to a full refund if the merchandise arrives damaged. Notify the seller and arrange to return all or the damaged portion of the shipment for replacement, making certain to obtain a receipt from the shipper.
• FTC regulations guarantee you a full refund if merchandise isn’t shipped within a reasonable time – usually 30 days – except where the seller specifically indicates a longer time period in the solicitation.
• If your order never arrives, the seller should be willing to trace it.
• If you cancel a mail order purchase charged on your credit card, the Fair Credit Billing Act requires that the seller must credit your account within one billing cycle.
• If you buy merchandise such as CDs, video or cassette tapes, books, etc. through membership in a “negative option club” or plan where the club sends members a monthly selection unless they decline specifically, the FTC’s Negative Option Rule gives you a minimum of 10 days to advise the club whether you want to receive the selection.
• If you receive something you didn’t order, you have the legal right to keep it without paying for it.

How technology can protect you
The National Consumers League (NCL) surveyed online shoppers last fall and found they are concerned about the potential risks of shopping online, and confused about the rights and remedies available to them.

Susan Grant, NCL vice president for public policy and director of its Internet fraud watch program, said, “What is even more disturbing is that 69 percent of consumers incorrectly believe it is safer to pay for an online purchase by check or money order than it is to use a charge or credit card.

“People don’t realize that encryption is commonly used to protect financial information during transmission,” said Grant, “and that federal law protects charge or credit card users if they don’t get what they were promised or if unauthorized charges were made to their accounts.”

February 17, 2000

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