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Unsolicited Goods and Services |
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September 2004
There are a few businesses that will provide unsolicited goods or services to consumers, and then ask for payment. What are your obligations if you receive goods or services that you have not asked for, and do not want?
The Business Practices and Consumer Protection Act, SBC 2004, c.2, says that you have no legal obligations in respect of unsolicited consumer goods and services you receive, unless you expressly agree in writing to accept the goods or services. If you receive unsolicited goods you are not required to pay for them or return them. The supplier does not have the right to sue you even if you use or damage the goods unless you have given the supplier a written acknowledgment of your acceptance.
What if you pay for the unsolicited goods and services in the mistaken belief that your spouse or another member of your household ordered them? Or, what if after paying for unsolicited goods and services, you change your mind?
The legislation provides a further protection to consumers in these circumstances by allowing the consumer of unsolicited goods or services up to two years to demand a refund, unless the consumer has expressly accepted the goods or services in writing. If you demand a refund, the demand must be in writing. The supplier then has 15 days to refund the money.
It should be noted that these protections only apply where goods or services are truly unsolicited. If a consumer has agreed to buy goods or services on an ongoing basis, the supplier is not required to get a written acknowledge that the consumer has accepted the goods or services every time the goods are delivered or services provided. The supplier may rely on the initial contract in which the consumer has agreed to accept the goods or services on an ongoing basis. However, if the supplier materially changes the goods or services being supplied, then the goods or services are treated like unsolicited goods or services.
By Stanley Rule, of the law firm Tinker, Kueng, Churchill and Co.
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