N.J. Admin. Code § 13:45A-1.1 - General provisions

(a) Without limiting any other practices which may be unlawful under the Consumer Fraud Act, N.J.S.A. 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.

Notes

N.J. Admin. Code § 13:45A-1.1

Amended by R.1995 d.618, effective 12/4/1995.
See: 27 New Jersey Register 3566(a), 27 New Jersey Register 4899(b).