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I had a leaflet through the door over the weekend about new regulations extending the existing law on ‘Cooling-Off periods’ and cancellation rights for consumers. Now it will cover contracts that are made by solicited visits by traders.
It looks as if any repair made in less than the 7 days ‘cooling-off period’ will require a signature by the customer stating they agree to the work before the end of this period and agree to ” pay in accordance with the ‘reasonable’ requirements of the canceled contract for goods or services”.
Failure to provide a written ‘Notice of the Right to Cancel’ a contract – or to provide the information required – or failure to do so in accordance with the Regulations – would result in the trader being unable to enforce the contract against a consumer.
Another consequence is a maximum penalty of a level 5 fine (of up to £5000) imposed on a trader.
Has anyone else looked into this?
Re: Cancellation of Contracts, new regulations!
Hi
This is basically an amendment to the door step selling regulations of 1987. Basically that act provided a cooling off period for goods and or service sold by cold callers knocking your door ie Double Glazing companies etc.
The law said in laymans terms that anyone selling at your door without your prior request to attend was an unsolicited seller and as a result of this unsolicited approach the consumer had the right to cancel any order within 7 days of making the order. This was supposed to stop high pressure, sometimes intimidating sales techniques.
One way round this was to get the customer to agree usually by telephone to have a no obligation fee quote with a salesman visiting the property. As this approach was at the customers request, this sales visit was effectively termed a solicited visit and therefore exempt under the door step selling regulations and therefore the consumer was not entitled to the same protection.
This new set of regulations bring solicited visits under the same set of rules as unsolicited visits to prevent confusion by consumers.
I understand your thoughts but the regulations do provide suitable get outs for us in this industry.
Section 5 Part 4 sub section (b) of the act provides protection where
a visit during which the contract which is made, relates to goods and services, other than those concerning which the consumer requested the visit of the trader, provided that when the visit was requested the consumer did not know, or could not reasonably have known, that the supply of goods or services formed part of the trader’s commercial or professional activities.In other words, all visits we make to customers home or businesses are classed as solicited visits, however, we are exempt if we only deal with the customer for the express problem she calls us for. If we develop the visit into quoting for other items, we must provide the customer with the necessary cooling off period and notice as required by the new act.
So, if Mrs X calls you up and says I have a broken down XXX washing machine can you come and fix it please. We can attend the customer and conduct a repair as a solicited visit without the requirements of the act using the above exemption. However when we get to Mrs X’s house and do the repair on the XXX washing machine and she says, the tumble dryer is also playing up, anything you do to the tumble dryer where the bill will be £35.00 or more excluding VAT must be covered by the requirements of new act, ie your must quote it and provide to the customer written notice that she has a 7 days cooling off period before the repair can be completed.
This rule is designed to prevent ruthless sales persons getting a solicited visit to someone on the pretence of doing one thing when the real plan is to push the buyer into something much bigger than the customer originally intended.
If hope the above helps, if not, PM me and I will try to explain it further
Regards all
Jackal
Re: Cancellation of Contracts, new regulations!
Sounds like bad news for the window cleaner who can’t read & write but sometimes gets asked to do extra tasks like cleaning out gutters. Isn’t it always the way, we all have to incur extra work and expense in order for the government to clamp down on a small minority of fly-by night traders. 👿 I got sent the leaflet about doorstep selling but I didn’t look at it as I don’t do doorstep selling :rolls:
Re: Cancellation of Contracts, new regulations!
Thanks Jackal, that makes a bit more sense,
So could this mean if a customer calls me out because the machine is not spinning and I find the door seal also needs replacing and I fit it they are entitled to the 7 days cooling off period?
Re: Cancellation of Contracts, new regulations!
I thought I would try a confirm the situation and contacted the “Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform” with Jackals example, the response was
The new Regulations require you to provide a cooling off period and cancellation rights for a contract relating to the ‘express problem’ that the consumer called you for, and also for any other items that result from the visit. Therefore, in the example you provide, you would be required to provide a cooling off period and cancellation rights for the washing machine and the tumble dryer.
Work can commence before the end of the 7 day cooling off period with the written agreement of the consumer. Provided that you have the written agreement of the consumer and you have – in the written Notice of the Right to Cancel – made the consumer aware of his/her duty to pay for any goods or services provided up to the point of cancellation, the consumer would be under a duty to pay a ‘reasonable’ amount for any goods and services provided up to the point of cancellation of the contract. I assume that in the majority of cases, having provided written agreement for work to begin before the end of the cooling off period, the consumer would not then cancel the contract.
Re: Cancellation of Contracts, new regulations!
If that is the case, to protect ourselves, it seems that ALL repairs cannot continue until the 7 days expire unless a written agreement is drawn up and signed by the customer. And the customer has to only pay a ‘reasonable amount’ if THEY cancel. 😯 WTF????
So every chavy customer who knows this could use that loophole and cancel before the seven days and only agree to pay £15. Unless you can get them to sign the agreement……..but they will already have your parts fitted which you have no right to reclaim……..:twisted:If only the Consumer Protection lobby were as efficient as they believe they are.
Would the last surviving business in the UK please switch off the lights………..
Steve.
Re: Cancellation of Contracts, new regulations!
This seems bonkers to me, if the customer has invited you to the property then this is not a cold call or door stepping.
What a load of c–p, also in the last sentence from the Department of Business Blah Blah Blah they use the word assume.
We should never assume anything particuarly in this business, I was trained as a youngster that to assume was to make an ASS out of U and ME.
Also while on the subject never use the sentence ” to be honest with you” or other like sentences it means that at other times you are not honest with them.
Time and time again I hear politicians using this when interviewed and just wonder if they realise what they are admitting to.
silverbroom
Re: Cancellation of Contracts, new regulations!
aqualectric wrote:So every chavy customer who knows this could use that loophole and cancel before the seven days and only agree to pay £15. Unless you can get them to sign the agreement……..but they will already have your parts fitted which you have no right to reclaim……..:twisted:
My understanding is the customer pays when the work is complete and signs the agreement which details the ‘right to cancel’, if they then cancel you can still charge for parts issued to the point of cancellation and your time. I guess you could argue the amount you have charged would be deemed reasonable otherwise they would not have agreed to it in the first place.
I think all this bit of legislation does is increase paperwork for the legitimate trader and possibly create more loopholes where customers can try and abuse the system. It doesn’t protect the consumer because the rogue traders will still charge and then disappear as before.
What really winds me up is it’s another case where the government don’t expect the general public to use common sense!
There are already a mechanisms in place, office of fair trading, trading standards office and Small Claims Court to help protect the consumer.
Re: Cancellation of Contracts, new regulations!
So would a signature on the bottom of the receipt count as “a satisfied customer”, or do you have to give them a separate document detailing their rights to cancel and hope they read and understand it? Most people would just glance and say OK anyway. A large percentage would question why and when told, a few could see this as a green light to take the p1ss…..
If it is a separate document, then that means it would have to be in duplicate and the copy stored with the invoice. This throws up data protection issues and how long would you have to keep records? Who could possibly police this if a trader or his customer just ‘didn’t bother’?
How the hell did businesses in the UK survive without Labour’s constant interference? Is a business easier to run than before? Are less mistakes made by the departments that impose this garbage?
Of course not. But the only ones accountable for any mistakes will be us – the honest, law abiding majority. 😈Steve.
Re: Cancellation of Contracts, new regulations!
I guess we could have the agreement printed on the reverse of the receipt which will then have to be pointed out and signed. Double sided printing, another increase in costs!
It says:
• indicate – if applicable – that the consumer may be required to pay for goods and services supplied if performance of the contract has begun with his written agreement before the end of the cancellation period;
So does this mean they have to pay for work done in which case they can’t effectively cancel the work therefore this is just a paper-trail?
Re: Cancellation of Contracts, new regulations!
Just do what the French do…..ignore it. How many people would this involve? Probably none and I certainly won’t lose any sleep worrying about it.
RobRe: Cancellation of Contracts, new regulations!
surely when a customer calls you out they are effectivly placing an order with you for your services, if all this was true, you could call tesco & get your shopping delivered & have a cooling off period?, or a gas leak repaired & the same, indeed any job or service carried out at home?
Re: Cancellation of Contracts, new regulations!
hotpnt wrote:surely when a customer calls you out they are effectivly placing an order with you for your services, if all this was true, you could call tesco & get your shopping delivered & have a cooling off period?, or a gas leak repaired & the same, indeed any job or service carried out at home?
Tesco’s is an on-line purchase, they are not calling to your premises, just delivering an order so it doesn’t make a difference but I think you’ll find the other examples all have to comply with this new legislation.
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