Rules for supplying products and services customers did not ask for

Consumers do not have to pay for goods they did not ask for and/or services they did not agree to. This is called unsolicited supplies.

Unsolicited services

You must not provide a customer with a service unless you get their permission first.

If a customer hires you to do a specific service, then that is all you are authorised to do. You cannot include any extras without their permission.

Example

A consumer arranges for a mechanic to replace the muffler on his car for $300. The consumer returns that afternoon to find that the mechanic has also replaced the tyres and brake pads. The mechanic gives him a bill for $1,200. The consumer disputes this, saying that he had never asked the mechanic to replace the tyres or brake pads. He will need to pay the $300 for the muffler, but not the full $1,200.

Unsolicited goods

You might try to sell goods to a customer by sending them unsolicited. This is allowed, but you cannot force the customer to buy them.

If the customer wants the goods, they will have to pay the asking price. Otherwise, they must write to you and ask you to collect the goods. You then have 1 month to collect the goods. If the customer doesn’t write to you, then you have 3 months to collect the goods.

When a customer returns the goods:

• they must take reasonable steps to make them available for you to collect
• you must collect the goods within the set time or the customer may keep them for free.

Example

A householder gets a package of books, magazines and DVDs in the mail. They were addressed to her even though she did not buy them or ask for them. She writes to the business and says she doesn’t want them. She advises them that she will leave the goods in a box on her back veranda for them to collect. A month passes, but the business does not collect the package. The householder may keep it for free.