Retailers ask FTC to include internet in Mail-Order rules
08 Nov '07
3 min read
The National Retail Federation and NRF's Shop.org on-line division urged the Federal Trade Commission to update 14-year-old rules governing mail-order and telephone sales to specifically include sales made over the Internet.
“Whether orders come in the mail, by telephone or over the Internet is secondary to the point that customers should receive the products they ordered, at the price they agreed to pay, and within the time that was promised,” NRF Senior Vice President and General Counsel Mallory Duncan said.
“The Internet has gone from dial-up modems to DSL to cable to fiber optic in a just a decade, not to mention from desktops to laptops to handheld devices. With today's rapidly changing technologies, it is important that FTC regulations focus on customer service rather than technical distinctions that could quickly become obsolete.”
NRF and Shop.org filed comments on the FTC's proposal to update its Mail or Telephone Order Merchandise Rule, a set of regulations that govern mail-order sales in areas such as accurate descriptions of products, prompt shipping, notification of delays, and refunds. The rules were first adopted in 1975 in response to consumer complaints that merchants had failed to ship merchandise on time, failed to ship at all or failed to provide prompt refunds for unshipped items.
The regulations were updated in 1993 to include telephone sales but Internet sales – which were in their infancy – were considered telephone sales on the grounds that most consumers used dial-up telephone modems to connect their computers to the Internet. The FTC is currently seeking input on a variety of possible updates, including whether regulations should cover “all Internet ordering, regardless of the consumer's means of access.”
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