April 7, 2011

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Question

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Hi Ken,

We have a customer that had a pers unit installed at her home. We charged her a $100.00 installation fee and 1 month of monitoring.

The next day the woman called up and said that she did not want the unit. She said that it was her children's idea and she wanted us to pick it up. She said she wanted nothing to do with it. However she was on-site when the unit was installed and she signed the invoice along with your contract which we modified the terms from 5 years to "month to month".

What money is she entitled to get back? Are we required to give back the installation that we charged of $100.00?

She did not sign a 3 day to rescind. We did not use one because her daughter contacted us and we went out. She is saying that New York law says she is entitled to all of her money because she has 3 days to change her mind.

Thanks,

Kris T

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Answer

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This transaction constitutes a "door to door" transaction. The contract was signed at the residence. You never gave her the Cancellation Form. The subscriber had 3 days from when you give her the notice, so she certainly had the 3 days from when the contract was signed. She is entitled to a full refund. You have to pick up the equipment within 10 days of the cancellation.

You can read the NY statute at http://www.kirschenbaumesq.com/noc-newyork1.htm

Note - some jurisdictions require a 7 day notice of cancellation period, and that is the time period in our Standard Form Pers contract.

You need to take the right to cancel seriously because failure to comply with that law can get you into far more trouble than the loss of one account. Some jurisdictions will consider a policy of non compliance with that statute as deceptive business practice. That claim can open the door to loads of trouble and expense.