When consumers choose to purchase goods or services from a distance seller and therefore shop through the web, mail order, TV or phone, they are legally entitled to be provided with clear information about the sale they are concluding.
The Distance Selling Regulations specify the kind of information consumers should be given before the sale is concluded, and also the information consumers should be given upon confirming the purchase.
The information consumers should be provided before the sale should basically focus on the trader, the goods or services about to be ordered, payment methods and information about the consumer’s legal rights. Before the sale is concluded, consumers should be given the full name and permanent address of the trader.
Information provided by the seller should include: a description of the main characteristics of the goods or services; the price of the goods or services, including all taxes; any delivery costs; how long the offer or price remains valid; how the performance of the services or delivery of goods will take place; and in the case of an ongoing contract for the supply of goods or services, its minimum duration. It should also say how the payment will be made and also the cost, since this is calculated at a higher rate than the basic cost.
The Distance Selling Regulations state that if this information is not made available to consumers, the contract of sale may become unenforceable, and hence consumers may cancel it and recoup any money paid.
Consumers must also be informed about the right of cancellation. This gives them a specific period of time to change their mind and cancel the purchase. When the distance sale is concluded with a local seller, the length of the cooling-off period is 15 days.
As to foreign sellers, if these are based in Europe, the cancellation period is at least seven days. The cooling-off period applies from the date the ordered goods are delivered to consumers. With regard to services, it starts from the date the contract of sale is concluded. However, it must be noted that once a service starts, or a good utilised, the cooling-off period no longer applies, even if it has not expired yet.
Furthermore, consumers must be informed about the conditions and procedures that need to be observed to exercise the right of cancellation. They must be given a contact name and address where they may lodge their complaints, and information on who is going to cover the costs of returning the unwanted goods. In fact, the latter is the only charge that may be imposed on consumers should they decide to exercise their cancellation rights.
When consumers decide to cancel a distance sale, the seller is obliged to reimburse the money paid as soon as possible, or within a maximum period of 30 days from the date of cancellation.
It is also in the interest of consumers to be informed if the cooling-off period does not apply to their particular purchase. The law specifies a list of goods and services that cannot be returned to the seller.
Among these we find customised or personalised goods and perishable goods, such as fresh food or freshly cut flowers. Other items that cannot be returned are newspapers, periodicals or magazines and unsealed audio or video recordings or computer software. Gaming or lottery services and goods or services whose price is determined by fluctuations on the financial market that cannot be controlled by the supplier, are also excluded from cancellation.
The Distance Selling Regulations, and hence the cooling-off period, also do not apply to contracts that are: concluded by means of automatic vending machines or automated commercial premises; concluded with telecommunications operators through the use of public payphones; concluded for the construction and sale of immoveable property or relating to other immoveable property rights, except for rental; concluded at an auction; for the supply of foodstuffs, beverages or other goods intended for current consumption and supplied to the consumer’s home or workplace by regular roundsmen; for the provision of services with respect to accommodation, transport, catering or leisure at a specific date or time.
Consumers who do not receive the mandatory information as stipulated in the regulations, may cancel the sale, and if not allowed to do so, may report the distance seller, if locally based, to the Office for Consumer Affairs at the Malta Competition and Consumer Affairs Authority. If the distance seller is based elsewhere in Europe, any complaints and requests for information may be addressed to the European Consumer Centre Malta.
odette.vella@mccaa.org.mt
Odette Vella is senior information officer, Office for Consumer Affairs, Malta Competition and Consumer Affairs Authority.