Department of Justice and Community Safety

Fair Trading & the ICRC

UNSOLICITED GOODS

Unsolicited goods (or services) are goods (or services) which you receive without having ordered or asked for them. Examples of unsolicited goods or services include unordered packs of greetings cards sent to you through the mail, credit or debit cards which you have not ordered and entries in a directory or journal which you have not approved.

Do Consumers have to pay for unsolicited goods or services?

No. Under section 29 of the Fair Trading Act (the Act), it is an offence for someone to ask for payment from a consumer for goods or services that he/she has not ordered. The biller is not allowed to do anything to get payment from the consumer. He/she cannot threaten the consumer with legal action, send debt collectors or place the consumers name on any list of defaulters.

What should Consumers do with unsolicited goods?

If consumers have not ordered goods, they do not have to pay for them. They can do one of two things:

The consumer can notify the sender of the goods that they do not want them. This notification must be in writing, and the consumer must give the sender the following information:
- his/her name and address;
- the address from which the sender can collect the goods;
- a statement saying that the goods are unsolicited.
The sender then has one month to claim the goods. If he/she does not claim them within a month, the consumer may keep the goods at no charge.
The consumer can do nothing. The sender of the goods then has three months to claim them. If he/she does not claim then, the consumer may keep the goods at no charge.

The Act stipulates some circumstances under which the consumer is not allowed to keep the goods. If the consumer could reasonably be expected to know that the goods were not for them, for example if they were not addressed to him/her, he/she is not permitted to keep them. Nor is he/she allowed to prevent the owner or sender of the goods from taking back the goods.

Are consumers responsible for damage to unsolicited goods?

Consumers are only responsible for damage to the goods while they are waiting for the sender to claim them if the damage is wilful or unlawful. If, for example, the consumer deliberately left the goods lying in the rain, they would be responsible for any damage to them.

When can consumers receive credit or debit cards?

The only credit or debit card that can be sent to a consumer is one which he/she has ordered in writing. Consumers can also receive replacements for expired or lost cards that they had ordered previously. Section 28 of the Fair Trading Act makes it illegal for anyone to send a consumer a credit or debit card that was not requested.

False bills for advertising.

The Act specifically prohibits attempts to collect bills for advertising in directories, if that advertising wasn't ordered. People can't try to collect money for advertising unless they know or have reasonable cause to believe that the person from whom they are attempting to collect the bill, has authorised the advertising. Nonetheless, scams of this kind are increasingly common and it is strongly suggested that businesses adopt the following practices to avoid being caught out:

be wary of any telephone calls seeking advertising. Ask the caller for the name of the organisation, check they have a listing in the phone book and call them back. Many non-legitimate operators won't be listed.
adopt a standard procedure in relation to the ordering of advertising. Limit the number of people authorised to order advertising and insist that all ordering is done in writing and that records are kept.
ask for proof of the magazine's existence, sponsorship and circulation.
insist on seeing proof of the advertisement and ensure that no money is paid until this proof is provided.
check invoices carefully. Legitimate invoices should contain the senders' street address and telephone number, not just a post office box number.

REMEMBER the best defence is basic good business practice.