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Attorneys who work with consumers often hear consumers insist that they have a legal “3 day right to cancel” all purchases they make. Unfortunately, although this is commonly believed, it is entirely untrue. Consumers do not have automatic rights to return or cancel all purchases they make. In fact, a store or business does not even need to have a return or cancellation policy at all. There are some limited situations where consumers can get their money back or force the seller to cancel their purchases, but these are very limited situation and they only affect some very few sales.
For example, there is a federal law called “The Cooling Off Rule” which the Federal Trade Commission enforces. This “Rule” says that consumers do have the right to cancel a sale within three (3) days. However, this only applies where the purchase was (1) for $25.00 or more AND where (2) the sale was made at the buyer's home, workplace, dormitory, or at facilities rented by the seller on a temporary or short-term basis (like a hotel/motel room, convention center, fairgrounds, restaurant, etc.). Unless these two conditions are met, the federal “Rule” does not apply.
To make matters a bit more confusing, the states also have their own versions of a “cooling off” rule. Because these state laws are written by each state, independently, they are all different. So, whether a consumer has a right to cancel a particular purchase, if the federal law does not apply, is also up to the particular state in which the consumer lives. For example, many states mirror the federal law regarding sales made a the buyer’s home or at a place that is not the seller’s regular place of business. However, some states have some very interesting “right to cancel” laws. For example, in some states a timeshare purchase can be cancelled within a certain time period. In some states a fitness club membership can be cancelled within a certain time period. In some states a hearing aid purchase can be cancelled within a certain time period. Sometimes these laws even apply to goods purchased over the phone from a telemarketer, sometimes they do not. Often the required time period is three (3) days, but it can also be fewere or less days. In fact, the number of days in one state can even vary depending on the kind of item purchased or the type of seller it was purchased from.
The only thing standard about “right to cancel” laws is that they do not apply to every sale and, even when they do apply, they do not apply uniformly to all consumers in all states. The only thing that is certain is that consumers have to be very careful when making purchases to find out whether they have any right to cancel a sale. If a consumer signs a purchase contract, then they should read that contract carefully to see if it says anything about a right to cancel, because if it does not, then there very likely will not be one. The bottom line is that consumers must be careful.
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