FROM THE LEGAL PAD
"But I Don't Need 17 Magazine Subscriptions!"*
There is a knock at the door and you open
it to find a neatly dressed young/middle-aged/old man or woman who informs
you that a certain company wishes to give you "absolutely free of charge"
a full year's subscription to "x" number of magazines. Sounds great,
doesn't it? The purpose of this fantastic offer is for "promotion"
and because you are such a "fantastic" person. The sales person tells
you that all that is asked of you is that you pay the cost of postage on
the sending of the 8 or 12 or 15 or more subscriptions. To most people
this certainly sounds fair enough and even though it is unlikely that a
person would have time to read all of those magazines, the cost is so low
that it really doesn't matter. Maybe a neighbor or friend would like
to look at them. You inquire as to what postage will run and are
told that it will only be .58 or .79 or $1.10 per day, and you can even
pay the amount by the month or quarter. Sounds good--I usually spend
more than this on soft drinks at work each day.
It is not until later, after having hung up
the telephone with the idea of having gotten a "great" deal that it suddenly
occurs to you that this small token sum of .79 per day means that you have
obligated yourself to pay $288.35 for magazine subscriptions that, had
a straight forward sale been offered, you would never have subscribed to.An
offer was made to me which I accepted, and this constitutes a valid contract.
The foregoing is an example of a transaction
which would come under the Home Solicitation Sales Act as found in Chapter
1 of Title 10 of the Official Code of Georgia. Under that chapter,
a "home solicitation sale" is a credit sale made to a consumer in which
the purchase price is payable in installments and the sale was solicited
in person by the seller or his representative at a place other than the
home of the seller, and a contract is signed at the time of the solicitation.
What to do? Is the buyer obligated by
the contract? The Home Solicitation Sales Act provides in Section 10-1-6
of the Official Code of Georgia that the buyer has a right to cancel any
home solicitation sale until 12:00 midnight of the third business day after
the day on which the buyer signs the agreement. Notice must be given
to the company of the seller at the place of business listed in the agreement
by certified mail, return receipt requested, which must be postmarked no
later than midnight on the third day following the signing of the agreement.
If this is done, then the seller must refund within ten days any deposits
or down payments.However, the seller does have the right to charge the
buyer an amount equal to the lesser of 5% of the gross sales price of the
merchandise purchased or $25.00. The seller may also demand that
the sales agreement be returned, but the buyer has no further liability
for having cancelled the contract.
If the buyer has received the merchandise,
he must return it in the same condition as it was received. The seller
must pick it up where sold and the seller shall receive from the buyer
at the time of pickup, the actual cost of pickup or $5.00, whichever is
less.
Unsolicited Merchandise
You go the mailbox and pull out a package
from a charitable organization which contains Christmas cards, return address
labels with your name and address, a flag, religious matter or patriotic
matter along with an urgent note asking that you make a "donation" to the
organization.
Georgia law provides that it is illegal to
send an item through the mail to you offering to sell that item where it
was not actually ordered by the receiver. The receipt of any such
merchandise is to be considered an "unconditional gift" by the receiver
who can use or dispose of the merchandise however he sees fit, unless the
merchandise was delivered as a result of a bona fide mistake.
If the sender continues to send bills or requests
for payment for the merchandise, he is subject to an action brought by
the receiver to stop him. Such an action, if filed, also allows him
to be awarded reasonable attorney's fees and court costs. (copyright,
1987, Homer M. Scarborough, Jr.)
* The opinions expressed in From the
Legal Pad are based on the laws of Georgia in force at the time of
the Copyright notice, and are not intended in any way to replace the neccessity
and need of conferring with a private attorney as to the laws existing
in your State and jurisdication. Further, each situation is unique
and the opinions herein are are general.
Click Here
to Send E-Mail
