Doorstep selling

October 2005

A Statistical Summary of the responses to the consultation (see below) has been published. Government has indicated that it intends to consult further on the detail of specific options before making a full response to the consultation.

See the statistical summary of responses to the doorstep selling consultation on the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform website.

14 July 2004

The OFT welcomes the positive response to its doorstep selling report from the English, Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish administrations and its action plan to consult on the options for improved consumer protection identified in our report.

See the Government's response to the study on the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform website.

See Doorstep Selling & Cold Calling - a consultation on proposals to improve consumer protection when purchasing goods or services in their home on the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform website.

12 May 2004

The OFT study on doorstep selling has found that consumer's need to be better informed of their rights and consumers who solicit visits from traders need more protection under the legislation.

Download the doorstep selling report (pdf 456 kb).  See below to download the annexes.

Doorstep selling is the practice of selling goods and services on the doorstep or in the home. It is worth at least £2.4 billion a year and covers a wide range of products from household cleaning products costing less than a pound, to home improvements costing thousands of pounds. Products can be sold in two ways:

  • solicited, where the consumer actively initiates the visit by the salesperson, for example by specifically requesting a visit in response to an advert or mail shot
  • unsolicited, where the visit does not take place at the express request of the consumer, for example where a salesperson makes a cold call.

Under the Consumer Protection (Cancellation of Contracts concluded away from Business Premises) Regulations 1987 (the Doorstep Selling Regulations) a seven day cooling off period is provided for purchases made following an unsolicited visit. A cooling off period does not apply to sales following solicited visits.

See background to doorstep selling study

Findings

The OFT has identified a number of concerns which, taken together, mean this sales practice can cause problems for consumers.

  • The home has very specific features as a sales environment. The consumer is effectively a captive customer and a well trained salesman, highly versed in selling techniques can exploit these to their advantage and the consumers detriment.
  • Consumers are generally unaware of their rights when buying through doorstep selling (94 per cent of consumers surveyed were unaware of their cancellation rights for unsolicited visits).
  • There can be intense pressure put on consumers buying in the home. The OFT has identified a range of sales tactics and influencing techniques that together are highly effective in securing sales, but can also lead the consumer to make inappropriate decisions they regret.
  • Key to this is pressure selling. Our research suggests that consumers are equally as likely to be subject to pressure selling for solicited and unsolicited visits. It also suggests that consumers are no better prepared at resisting sales techniques if they have solicited the visit.
  • The majority of complaints made are about high value goods. More than half of these goods are bought through solicited sales. For these sales consumers do not have the benefit of a cooling off period.
  • Even where cooling off periods apply they can be undermined by unscrupulous salespersons – either by exploiting a legal exception contained in the Doorstep Selling Regulations or by other ploys.
  • Prices can vary widely. In our case study of double-glazing products by as much as 45 per cent. For some assistive products we found are paying a large premium for buying in the home – as much as 144 per cent.

Recommendations

The OFT recommends that Government should extend the legislation to give cancellation rights to solicited visits as well as unsolicited.  We will run a consumer campaign, in conjunction with interested consumer groups, to raise awareness of consumers rights and alert them to the psychological techniques used and how to combat them.

To prevent the undermining of cooling off periods the OFT recommends that Government consults on the possibility of removing the legal exception and of banning work and/or payment with in the cooling-off period (with exceptions).

Download the position paper we issued on proposals for strengthening legislation to help tackle bogus traders (pdf 132 kb).  See background to doorstep selling study for more information about this paper.

See press release

Downloads

Download the doorstep selling report (pdf 456 kb).

Download the annexes of the report in pdf format:




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