Door to door sales, telemarketing, lay-bys and pricing

If you are thinking about buying something, remember that you have rights to protect you, especially from the way people and companies approach you and offer you their products and services.

Door-to-door sales and telemarketing

You have extra protection when you buy from door-to-door salespeople and telemarketers. This is because the people working for these businesses contacted you.

Your protections are:

• salespeople have limited hours they can contact you
• if you agree to buy something, you have 10 business days to change your mind
• salespeople have disclosures they must make to you
• sales agreements must be in writing
• salespeople cannot ask you for money for at least 10 business days after you agree to a purchase.

You are protected when:

• a salesperson comes up to you, for example at your home, or phones you when you have not asked them to
• you discuss the sale somewhere other than the seller’s workplace
• the product or service you buy costs more than $100, or the salesperson did not tell you the right price before you agreed.

Disclosure requirements

Door-to-door sales

A salesperson who comes to your door must:

• tell you why they are there and show some identification
• tell you that you can ask them to leave at any time
• leave your property if you ask them to
• tell you about your cooling-off rights.

When you buy a product or a service from a door-to-door salesperson, they must give you:

• a copy of the signed agreement showing the total price
• their contact details
• information about your right to cancel the agreement.

Limited hours

Door-to-door salespeople and telemarketers cannot contact you:

• on a Sunday or public holiday
• before 9am and after 6pm on weekdays (door-to-door salespeople only)
• before 9am and after 8pm on weekdays (telemarketers only)
• before 9am and after 5pm on a Saturday.

Payment

A business cannot give you a product or service, or ask you for any money, during the first 10-business days after you make an agreement. This is called the cooling-off time. There is only one time they can ignore this—a business can give you a product worth less than $500 during the 10 days, but you do not have to pay them until after the 10 days. If the business gives you a product during the cooling-off time and you decide to cancel the agreement, you need to keep the product in good condition and ready for the business to pick up. If the business does not come and get the product from you in 30 days, it is yours to keep.

Do not call register

You can put your home phone number on the national do not call register. If a telemarketer calls you once you have added your number to this register, they may be breaking the law and can face penalties.

Some organisations can still call your number even if it is on the register.

These are:

• market research companies (for surveys)
• charities or charitable institutions
• education institutions
• religious organisations
• government bodies
• political parties
• independent Members of Parliament
• political candidates.

Do door-to-door traders stickers

You can stick a no door-to-door traders sticker on your gate, letterbox or near your front door to deter traders from door knocking. The stickers are available free of charge. Email oftcomms@justice.qld.gov.au to order a sticker.

The Office of Fair Trading takes complaints about door-to-door traders seriously. If you've had a problem with a door-to-door trader, please call us or send us an email.

Lay-bys

A lay-by is an agreement between you and a business that you will pay for a product over time. You do not get the product until you finish paying.

Agreements must be in writing and should list:

• a description of the goods
• the total price
• the amount of deposit you paid
• the maximum length of the lay-by
• cancellation and refund policies.

You can cancel the agreement any time and get the money you have paid back. The business cannot break the lay-by unless it is out of their control (e.g. damage to the product due to fire or flood). If this happens, the business must give you all of your money back.

Pricing

Multiple prices

If a business displays more than one price for a product (e.g. the price on the shelf is different to the price in the catalogue), they must sell you the product for the lower price.

Displaying the total price

Businesses cannot tell you a price that is only part of the total cost (without telling you the total cost as well).

The total price must:

• be clear at the time of the sale
• be as clear and obvious as the most obvious price shown
• include any tax, duty, fee, levy or charges.

The total price does not:

• have to include delivery charges if these are an optional cost
• stop you, or the business, from negotiating.