The Office of Fair Trading are carrying out a drive to ensure that all online stores comply with The Consumer Protection (Distance Selling) Regulations 2000.

The main affect on businesses will be how returns are handled and the rights of the customer to cancel.

In short, these are:

1)  Unless specified otherwise, goods must be delivered to the customer within 30 days of the order.

2)  Consumers have a cooling off period in which they can withdraw from the contract for any reason. The cooling off period begins as soon as the order has been made. In the case of goods, it ends seven working days after the day of receipt of the goods. In the case of services, it ends seven working days after the day the order were made. This is to give buyers a chance to examine the goods in person which is available to them when purchasing in person. If they decide they do not want the item they can inform the seller for a full refund. The customer then has a further few weeks to return the goods.

The cooling off period and right to cancel do not apply to contracts for:

• goods made to the customer's specification;
• perishable goods (flowers, fresh food);
• CDs, DVDs, and tapes with software, audio or video if unsealed;
• newspapers and magazines;
• betting, gaming and lotteries

3)  When consumers exercise their right to cancel they are under a duty to take reasonable care of the goods and to “restore” them to the supplier. The term “restore” does not permit the supplier to demand that the consumer send back or deliver the goods, but only that the goods are made available to the supplier for collection. However the regulations allow the supplier to specify in their terms that the consumer to return the goods to the supplier at their own cost. The supplier may charge for the direct costs of recovering the goods if, on request, the consumer does not return them; this must not be more than the direct costs of recovery, such as postage or, for larger items, the cost of a van collection.

4)  The seller must refund the buyer within 30 days beginning with the day on which the notice of cancellation was given. The seller must give a FULL refund of ALL monies paid, including the p&p costs. The seller cannot charge an Admin/Restocking fee.

5)  These regulations only apply to goods/services cancelled by the customer due to a 'change of mind' - they do not apply to goods that are faulty or damaged or otherwise returnable within the Sale of Goods Act.

Further information can be found at www.berr.gov.uk

The Office of Fair Trading are asking customers to let them know of sites which are not following these regulations and have stated that they will prosecute offenders.

It is therefore important that you check your store's terms and conditions to ensure you comply with current legislation.