ABC 36 News at Noon/12:30 BBB - FTC 3-day Cooling Off Rule 6-1

Welcome back.

Well, we've been talking about door-to-door contractors and you

may want to take a closer look at your rights when

it comes to some deals or contracts that are made with

door-to-door salesmen and here to tell us more,

we welcome back Heather Clary from the Better Business Bureau.

This is certainly the time of year where this starts to pick up.

Right.

The weather is warm and we're getting lots of calls

from folks who are getting visited by everyone from college-age

kids selling magazines to people selling those vacuum cleaners to

people selling alarm systems or anything you can think of.

And they wonder,

you know,

do I have the right to cancel that?

I thought I had a three-day kind of thing going on and you do

in some circumstances.

So, we thought we'd touch on the Federal

Trade Commission's three-day cooling-off rule today.

That's called,

and you've heard of that before,

and it basically covers sales that are made

away from a seller's regular place of business,

mainly door-to-door at your home or a temporary place

they may have rented like a restaurant or a hotel room,

something of that nature.

The seller must tell you what your rights are to cancel the sale if

you wish to and provide you with two copies of the cancellation form

should you change your mind.

Now to cancel,

the Federal Trade Commission says you do have to have three days by midnight

of the third day after the date of the contract you may have signed,

got to be postmarked by that day,

three business days and Saturday does count as a business day friends.

So,

keep that in mind.

There are some exceptions to this rule,

including items that cost less than $25,

deals made entirely by mail or phone.

Vehicles,

it does not cover cars in any way,

shape,

or form.

There are some other items like items needed to meet an emergency,

things like that.

So, just so that you know what your rights are,

because we've had some people have buyer's remorse,

but if you wait too long,

you're not going to be able to do it.

Make sure you're dealing with someone reputable.

Check out the company with the Better Business Bureau.

See

if it's something you really want,

and

go

from there.

We've had people call us to check out

a seller while they're standing on the doorstep.

We're looking it up on the website at BBB.org.

So, can't hurt to do that too.

Yeah,

it really doesn't take long to just go ahead and check it out and

look things up and know for yourself that you're dealing with a reputable company,

reputable company,

so worth your time for sure.

Thanks so much.