Current through Register Vol. 56, No. 18, September 16, 2024
(a) Without
limiting any other practices which may be unlawful under the Consumer Fraud
Act, 56:8-1 et seq., this rule makes
unlawful thereunder some specific practices in the mail order or catalog
business.
(b) It is an unlawful
practice in connection with the advertisement or sale of merchandise for a
person conducting a mail order or catalog business to accept money through the
mail or any electronic transfer medium, for merchandise ordered by mail,
telephone, facsimile transmission or electronic mail and then permit six weeks
to elapse without either:
1. Delivering or
mailing the merchandise order; or
2. Making a full refund; or
3. Sending the consumer a letter or notice
advising the consumer of the duration of an expected delay or the substitution
of merchandise of equivalent or superior quality, and offering to send a refund
within one week if so requested. If a proposal to substitute merchandise is
made, it shall describe, in specific detail, how the substituted merchandise
differs from the merchandise ordered; or
4. Sending the consumer substituted
merchandise of equivalent or superior quality, together with:
i. A written notice offering, without
reservation, to accept the return of the merchandise at the seller's expense
within 14 days of receipt of the merchandise and, upon request, the consumer's
choice of either, a refund of cash paid, including the amount of postage to
return the item, or a credit; and
ii. A postage-paid letter or card on which
the consumer may indicate whether he wishes the purchase price to be refunded
or credited to his account within 14 days of receipt of the letter or card by
the seller. The consumer's request entered on such a letter or card must be
honored by the seller; and
iii. The
written notice and postage-paid letter or card, as stated in (b)4i and ii
above, need not be sent with the merchandise, if in lieu thereof, a statement
that the seller will accept the return of the merchandise for a period of at
least 14 days without reservation is printed in the catalog itself.
(c) For purposes of
(b)3 and 4 above, merchandise may not be considered of "equivalent or superior
quality" if it is not substantially similar to the merchandise ordered or not
fit for the purposes intended, or if the seller normally offers the substituted
merchandise at a price lower than the price of the merchandise
ordered.
(d) Subsection (b) above
does not apply:
1. To merchandise ordered
pursuant to an open-end credit plan as defined in the Federal Consumer Credit
Protection Act or any other credit plan pursuant to which the consumer's
account was opened prior to the mail order in question, and under which the
creditor may permit the customer to make purchases from time to time from the
creditor or by use of a credit card; or
2. When all advertising for the merchandise
contains a notice (which, in the case of printed advertising, shall be in a
type size at least as large as the price) that delay may be expected of a
specified period. In such cases, one of the events described in (b) above must
occur no later than one week after expiration of the period specified in the
advertisement; or
3. To
merchandise, such as quarterly magazines, which by their nature are not
produced until a future date and for that reason cannot be stocked at the time
of order; or
4. To installments
other than the first of merchandise, such as magazine subscriptions, ordered
for serial delivery.
(e)
It is an unlawful practice in connection with the advertisement or sale of
merchandise for a person conducting a mail order or catalog business to fail to
disclose the legal name of the company and the complete and permanent street
address from which the business is actually conducted in any materials,
including advertising and promotional materials, order blanks and order forms,
which contain a mailing address other than the actual street address from which
the business actually engages in or conducts business.
(f) The provisions of this section shall
apply to any person who conducts a mail order or catalog business in or from
the State of New Jersey or who advertises or sells merchandise via mail order
or catalog into this State.
