If you're selling your products or services door to door or by phone (i.e. telemarketing) your customers have extra rights to those visiting a shop or website. That's because you're the one making contact or 'soliciting' their business.
Door-to-door and telemarketing sales agreements are considered 'unsolicited consumer agreements'. An agreement is unsolicited when:
you (or your agent) approach a consumer without their invitation—this is usually at their home or in a public place like the common area of a shopping centre
the transaction costs more than $100 or has an unknown price.
In a dispute about whether a sale was unsolicited, it's up to you to prove that the customer solicited it.
Read these rules to understand consumer rights in door-to-door and telephone sales. Consumers get extra protections if you don't follow these rules and they can make a complaint to the Office of Fair Trading for help.
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You must not contact consumers:
on Sundays or public holidays
before 9am or after 6pm door to door (8pm for telemarketers) on weekdays
before 9am or after 5pm on Saturdays.
These hours apply even if the transaction is less than $100.
You must leave the property or end the call when the customer asks you to.
You must not approach a residence displaying a do-not-knock sticker or sign.
explain the customer can ask you to leave or end the call at any time
explain the customer's cooling-off rights.
You must enter a written agreement for any purchase over $100.
If you enter into an agreement, you must give the customer a written copy straight away for door-to-door sales and within 5 business days for telemarketing sales. It must:
be signed
state that you're acting on behalf of a business
outline the total cost including delivery fees and GST
The customer has a cooling-off period of 10 business days to change their mind when they spend more than $100. During this time, they can cancel for any reason without penalty.
If you break the rules around unsolicited sales, particularly rules about agreements and the cooling-off period, the customer can cancel the contract without penalty up to 6 months after entering into it.
During the cooling-off period, you must not:
supply goods valued $500 or more
supply services, regardless of value
take any payment or deposit, even if you've supplied the goods.
The customer doesn't own any goods you supply during the cooling-off period unless they've paid for them.
If they cancel the agreement during the cooling-off period, they should have kept the items in good condition and they must make them available for you to collect.
You must collect them within 30 days. Otherwise, they can keep them free of charge.
A contractual cooling-off period doesn't apply to emergency repairs when the Australian or Queensland government has declared a state of emergency.
Emergency repairs can include:
hazards or potential hazards
health and safety risks
risks of serious damage to your property.
For example, a cooling-off period won't apply if a builder offers to fix a roof when a state of emergency is declared after a cyclone.
