Placing an order
If you're ordering a product from home, make sure you have shopped around for the best price, and made sure that the trader you are buying from is legitimate, before you pay for the goods.
Shop around. You might find that fantastic special deal on offer somewhere else and cheaper.
Use retailers and services you know about or ones that have been personally recommended to you.
Be wary of traders who use P.O. Box numbers for their contact address.
Make sure you know the trader's full address - especially if the company is based outside the UK.
If you use a premium rate service (090 numbers), look out for clear and prominent call cost information. All advertising should clearly state the cost per minute that you will be charged. If you are using the Internet, call cost information should always be given before you connect to a site, regardless of whether it is a UK or international premium rate call.
Keep in a safe place:
- The trader's address - and phone number.
- The advert, together with a note of when and where it appeared.
- Details of delivery times and charges for postage and packing.
- A copy of the order confirmation or an e-mail which proves this
- If you're joining a book or music club or making any kind of long-term commitment, check out the small print for any obligations you have to honour - and the cancellation terms.
- If you buy through a newspaper or magazine advert, ask what you have to buy and over what period of time to qualify for any introductory offer. Check that you're covered by a protection scheme.
Information the seller must give you
The seller, or supplier, must give you the following information in a clear, understandable way:
- Their name and (if you have to pay in advance) their address.
- The main characteristics of the goods or services.
- The price, including VAT and any other taxes.
- The cost of delivery (if there is one).
- How long the offer or the price will remain valid.
- How you can pay.
- The delivery arrangements (normally within 30 days unless you agree otherwise).
- That you have a right to cancel the order.
- The minimum period you are tied into a contract for an ongoing service (some mobile phone contracts, for example, often insist on a one-year minimum agreement).
- If they are using premium rate telephone, fax or internet charges.
- That they will supply you with a substitute if what you have ordered isn't available. If they do this, you should be told that they would meet the cost of returning the goods, if you decide that you do not want them.
When you place an order, the supplier is required to give you certain information in writing (e.g. by letter, fax or e-mail). At the latest, this must arrive when the goods are delivered or when the service is being carried out.
If you have been given all the necessary information in writing before you placed the order - for example, via a catalogue or magazine advertisement - you will not receive anything further.
The information in writing should include most of the details outlined above plus:
- When and how you can cancel your order.
- A geographical address where you can write to complain if there is a problem.
- Details of any guarantees and after-sales services.
- How to cancel a continuing contract which has no fixed finishing date - or which lasts for longer than a year.
- If the seller wants you to return the goods on cancellation.
- You must also be told whether it is you or the trader who pays for the return of the goods.
You have the right to return or cancel your order for any reason. But there are some exceptions.
If you don't like the goods or have changed your mind, you can cancel the order. This is usually within a seven-day 'cooling-off' period. (Please note that the rules for financial services (including consumer credit) may allow a different withdrawal period).
See Returning or cancelling orders for more information.
