Consumers may sometimes find themselves in situations where they receive goods or are provided with services which they never ordered or requested.
While the provision of unsolicited goods or services is not illegal, demanding consumers to pay for them breaches consumer laws. This kind of selling is called ‘inertia selling’ and is prohibited.
Traders are also prohibited to demand extra payments from consumers in addition to the amount originally agreed, unless the trader has obtained the consumers’ express consent.
Default options which consumers are required to reject to avoid the additional payment are considered illegal. Hence, if consumers end up incurring additional costs as a result of default options, consumers are entitled to seek refund of these unauthorised payments.
In situations where consumers actually receive unsolicited products, these may be considered as a gift, which means that consumers are neither obliged to pay for them nor return them to the seller.
In fact, sellers cannot hold consumers responsible for any payment because there is no sales agreement between the two parties. If the seller argues that the consumer is bound to a sales contract, then evidence of the signed sales contract must be submitted by the seller.
Consumer legislation also protects consumers from the obligation to return the unsolicited goods. If the seller wants these goods back, any related costs must be borne by the seller. In such situations, consumers are advised to ensure that the product is returned via a traceable means and to keep the receipt of the money paid for reimbursement.
There may be situations where consumers receive goods by mistake- Odette Vella
There may be situations where consumers receive goods by mistake. If this happens, consumers should communicate with the company, inform them about the mistake, and request guidance on how to return the goods. If consumers are required to send the goods by post, even in this case, any related costs should be paid by the trader.
Consumers may also receive unsolicited goods or services following a subscription to a ‘free trial’. Here, consumers are responsible to make sure that before subscribing they do not unknowingly agree to keep receiving the goods against payment once the free trial ends.
If consumers, upon subscribing to the free trial, are requested to submit their credit card details, this usually means that when the free trial ends consumers will be charged for the goods or services.
However, consumers’ active consent to keep receiving the goods against payment is required and cannot be inferred through default options. Should this happen and consumers end up paying for the products or services, they can then claim a refund for the unauthorised withdrawals.
Consumer disputes with local sellers over unsolicited goods or services may be lodged with the Office for Consumer Affairs at the MCCAA. Cross-border disputes with European-based sellers may instead be reported to the European Consumer Centre Malta.
Odette Vella is director, Information and Research Directorate, MCCAA
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