Customers’ Bill or Rights

What should a customer expect from a reputable TV repair service company?

1) The customer should always be treated in a dignified and respectful manner.
2) The customer should never feel intimidated by employees of the service company.
3) The customer should not feel embarrassed or ashamed if they don’t understand the service solution that needs to be performed or that was performed. The customer should always feel perfectly comfortable to ask for clarification. This clarification should be presented in such a manner that a layperson could understand.
4) The customer should be aware of what the total cost will be, before any work is performed. When the repair is completed the customer should receive an itemized bill / invoice that shows all parts including part numbers and part descriptions, labor charges, trip, and miscellaneous charges listed separately. If you don’t understand the charges or can not decipher the bill / invoice ask for clarification. If you are paying an advanced fee such as a deposit, estimate, evaluation, or minimum charge fee, ask if that amount is applied toward the services that will be rendered? Also, re-clarify what you will owe at the completion of the repair and after any advance fees / charges are applied by saying, “what will my balance due be, when the repair is completed?”  You should also ask if any of the advanced charges are refundable, if you decide against having service performed.

The itemized bill helps protect you in several ways:
a) It assures that the charges are assessed fairly, by specifically showing what was involved in the repairing of your product.
b) It also further protects you, in case your product fails because one or more of the parts installed for this repair fails again, while it is still covered under the service centers own warranty.

5) You should ask for and receive the terms of any warranty that the performed service / repair will have after the service/ repair is completed. This explanation of the warranty should include the exact coverage in days, months, or years for each segment that applies to the service that was performed e.g., labor, parts, or in-home trip charges.

6) You should ask if the employee / employees of the company who will be coming to your home is / are covered by a workman’s compensation insurance and if the service company has business liability insurance.

7) 3 Day cooling off period for door to door sales: The buyer has the right and must receive, sign and date a copy of 3-day cooling off period, for door to door sales. While Service / Repair and Parts That Are Needed For The Repair Are Exempt From This Law as noted in item # 5 of the law (listed below), additional services sold to you in your home during the course of the repair may not be exempt.  In essence, the law gives you an unlimited return policy for door to door sales, if you have not received a copy of the “3 day cooling off period” law. The complete statute is listed below:

CODE OF FEDERAL REGULATIONS
TITLE 16–COMMERCIAL PRACTICES
CHAPTER I–FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION
SUBCHAPTER D–TRADE REGULATION RULES
PART 429–COOLING-OFF PERIOD FOR DOOR-TO-DOOR SALES
§ 429.1 The Rule.
In connection with any door-to-door sale, it constitutes an unfair and
deceptive act or practice for any seller to:

(a) Fail to furnish the buyer with a fully completed receipt or copy of
any contract pertaining to such sale at the time of its execution, which
is in the same language, e.g., Spanish, as that principally used in the
oral sales presentation and which shows the date of the transaction and
contains the name and address of the seller, and in immediate proximity
to the space reserved in the contract for the signature of the buyer or
on the front page of the receipt if a contract is not used and in bold
face type of a minimum size of 10 points, a statement in substantially
the following form:

“You, the buyer, may cancel this transaction at any time prior to
midnight of

the third business day after the date of this transaction. See the attached

notice of cancellation form for an explanation of this right.”

The seller may select the method of providing the buyer with the
duplicate notice of cancellation form set forth in paragraph (b) of this
section, provided however, that in the event of cancellation the buyer
must be able to retain a complete copy of the contract or receipt.
Furthermore, if both forms are not attached to the contract or receipt,
the seller is required to alter the last sentence in the statement above
to conform to the actual location of the forms.

(b) Fail to furnish each buyer, at the time the buyer signs the
door-to-door sales contract or otherwise agrees to buy consumer goods or
services from the seller, a completed form in duplicate, captioned
either “NOTICE OF RIGHT TO CANCEL” or “NOTICE OF CANCELLATION,” which
shall (where applicable) contain in ten point bold face type the
following information and statements in the same language, e.g.,
Spanish, as that used in the contract.

Notice of Cancellation

[enter date of transaction] ————- (Date)

YOU MAY CANCEL THIS TRANSACTION, WITHOUT ANY PENALTY OR OBLIGATION,
WITHIN THREE BUSINESS DAYS FROM THE ABOVE DATE.

IF YOU CANCEL, ANY PROPERTY TRADED IN, ANY PAYMENTS MADE BY YOU UNDER
THE CONTRACT OR SALE, AND ANY NEGOTIABLE INSTRUMENT EXECUTED BY YOU WILL
BE RETURNED WITHIN 10 BUSINESS DAYS FOLLOWING RECEIPT BY THE SELLER OF
YOUR CANCELLATION NOTICE, AND ANY SECURITY INTEREST ARISING OUT OF THE
TRANSACTION WILL BE CANCELED.

IF YOU CANCEL, YOU MUST MAKE AVAILABLE TO THE SELLER AT YOUR RESIDENCE,
IN SUBSTANTIALLY AS GOOD CONDITION AS WHEN RECEIVED, ANY GOODS DELIVERED
TO YOU UNDER THIS CONTRACT OR SALE; OR YOU MAY IF YOU WISH, COMPLY WITH
THE INSTRUCTIONS OF THE SELLER REGARDING THE RETURN SHIPMENT OF THE
GOODS AT THE SELLER’S EXPENSE AND RISK.

IF YOU DO MAKE THE GOODS AVAILABLE TO THE SELLER AND THE SELLER DOES NOT
PICK THEM UP WITHIN 20 DAYS OF THE DATE OF YOUR NOTICE OF CANCELLATION,
YOU MAY RETAIN OR DISPOSE OF THE GOODS WITHOUT ANY FURTHER OBLIGATION.
IF YOU FAIL TO MAKE THE GOODS AVAILABLE TO THE SELLER, OR IF YOU AGREE
TO RETURN THE GOODS TO THE SELLER AND FAIL TO DO SO, THEN YOU REMAIN
LIABLE FOR PERFORMANCE OF ALL OBLIGATIONS UNDER THE CONTRACT.

TO CANCEL THIS TRANSACTION, MAIL OR DELIVER A SIGNED AND DATED COPY OF
THIS CANCELLATION NOTICE OR ANY OTHER WRITTEN NOTICE, OR SEND A
TELEGRAM, TO [Name of seller], AT [address of seller's place of
business] NOT LATER THAN MIDNIGHT OF———-(date).

I HEREBY CANCEL THIS TRANSACTION.

(Date) —

————- (Buyer’s signature)

(c) Fail, before furnishing copies of the “Notice of Cancellation” to
the buyer, to complete both copies by entering the name of the seller,
the address of the seller’s place of business, the date of the
transaction, and the date, not earlier than the third business day
following the date of the transaction, by which the buyer may give
notice of cancellation.

(d) Include in any door-to-door contract or receipt any confession of
judgment or any waiver of any of the rights to which the buyer is
entitled under this section including specifically his right to cancel
the sale in accordance with the provisions of this section.

(e) Fail to inform each buyer orally, at the time he signs the contract
or purchases the goods or services, of his right to cancel.

(f) Misrepresent in any manner the buyer’s right to cancel.

(g) Fail or refuse to honor any valid notice of cancellation by a buyer
and within 10 business days after the receipt of such notice, to: (I)
Refund all payments made under the contract or sale; (ii) return any
goods or property traded in, in substantially as good condition as when
received by the seller; (iii) cancel and return any negotiable
instrument executed by the buyer in connection with the contract or sale
and take any action necessary or appropriate to terminate promptly any
security interest created in the transaction.

(h) Negotiate, transfer, sell, or assign any note or other evidence of
indebtedness to a finance company or other third party prior to midnight
of the fifth business day following the day the contract was signed or
the goods or services were purchased.

(I) Fail, within 10 business days of receipt of the buyer’s notice of
cancellation, to notify him whether the seller intends to repossess or
to abandon any shipped or delivered goods.

Note 1: Definitions. For the purposes of this section the following
definitions shall apply:

(a) Door-to-Door Sale– A sale, lease, or rental of consumer goods or
services with a purchase price of $25 or more, whether under single or
multiple contracts, in which the seller or his representative personally
solicits the sale, including those in response to or following an
invitation by the buyer, and the buyer’s agreement or offer to purchase
is made at a place other than the place of business of the seller. The
term “door-to-door sale” does not include a transaction:

(1) Made pursuant to prior negotiations in the course of a visit by the
buyer to a retail business establishment having a fixed permanent
location where the goods are exhibited or the services are offered for
sale on a continuing basis; or

(2) In which the consumer is accorded the right of recision by the
provisions of the Consumer Credit Protection Act (15 U.S.C. 1635) or
regulations issued pursuant thereto; or

(3) In which the buyer has initiated the contact and the goods or
services are needed to meet a bona fide immediate personal emergency of
the buyer, and the buyer furnishes the seller with a separate dated and
signed personal statement in the buyer’s handwriting describing the
situation requiring immediate remedy and expressly acknowledging and
waiving the right to cancel the sale within 3 business days; or

(4) Conducted and consummated entirely by mail or telephone; and without
any other contact between the buyer and the seller or its representative
prior to delivery of the goods or performance of the services; or

(5) In which the buyer has initiated the contact and specifically
requested the seller to visit his home for the purpose of repairing or
performing maintenance upon the buyer’s personal property. If in the
course of such a visit, the seller sells the buyer the right to receive
additional services or goods other than replacement parts necessarily
used in performing the maintenance or in making the repairs, the sale of
those additional goods or services would not fall within this exclusion; or

(6) Pertaining to the sale or rental of real property, to the sale of
insurance or to the sale of securities or commodities by a broker-dealer
registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

(b) Consumer Goods or Services– Goods or services purchased, leased, or
rented primarily for personal, family, or household purposes, including
courses of instruction or training regardless of the purpose for which
they are taken.

(c) Seller– Any person, partnership, corporation, or association
engaged in the door-to-door sale of consumer goods or services.

(d) Place of Business– The main or permanent branch office or local
address of a seller.

(e) Purchase Price– The total price paid or to be paid for the consumer
goods or services, including all interest and service charges.

(f) Business Day– Any calendar day except Sunday, or the following
business holidays:

New Year’s Day, Washington’s Birthday, Memorial Day, Independence Day,
Labor Day, Columbus Day, Veterans’ Day, Thanksgiving Day, and Christmas Day.

Note 2: Effect on State Laws and Municipal Ordinances.

(a) The Commission is cognizant of the significant burden imposed upon
door- to-door sellers by the various and often inconsistent State laws
which provide the buyer with the right to cancel door-to-door sales
transactions. However, it does not believe that this constitutes
sufficient justification for preempting all of the provisions of such
laws or of the ordinances of the political subdivisions of the various
States. The Record in the proceedings supports the view that the joint
and coordinated efforts of both the Commission and State and local
officials are required to insure that a consumer who has purchased from
a door-to-door seller something he does not want, does not need, or
cannot afford, is accorded a unilateral right to rescind, without
penalty, his agreement to purchase the goods or services.

(b) This section will not be construed to annual, or exempt any seller
from complying with the laws of any State, or with the ordinances of
political subdivisions thereof, regulating door-to-door sales, except to
the extent that such laws or ordinances, if they permit door-to-door
selling, are directly inconsistent with the provisions of this section.
Such laws or ordinances which do not accord the buyer, with respect to
the particular transaction, a right to cancel a door-to-door sale which
is substantially the same or greater than that provided in this section,
or which permit the imposition of any fee or penalty on the buyer for
the exercise of such right, or which do not provide for giving the buyer
notice of his right to cancel the transaction in substantially the same
form and manner provided for in this section, are among those which will
be considered directly inconsistent.