Legal Definitions - mail or telephone order rule

The Mail, Internet, or Telephone Order Rule, established by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), is a consumer protection regulation designed to ensure that businesses promptly ship merchandise ordered by customers through mail, internet, or telephone.

This rule requires sellers to have a reasonable expectation that they can ship ordered items by the date advertised in their solicitation. If no specific shipping date is provided, the seller must ship the merchandise within 30 days of receiving the order.

Should a seller anticipate or experience a delay in shipping beyond the promised timeframe or the 30-day default period, they are legally obligated to inform the buyer of the delay and offer the option to either consent to the new shipping date or cancel the order. If the buyer chooses to cancel or does not provide consent for the delay, the seller must issue a prompt refund. The rule was updated in 2014 to explicitly cover orders placed over the internet, broadening its protection beyond traditional mail and telephone sales.

Here are some examples illustrating how the Mail, Internet, or Telephone Order Rule applies:

• Example 1: Stated Shipping Date Expectation

  A customer orders a new gaming console from an online electronics store that advertises, "Guaranteed to ship within 7 business days." Under the Mail, Internet, or Telephone Order Rule, the electronics store must have a reasonable expectation, at the time the order is placed, that it can indeed ship the console within those 7 business days. If the store knows it has insufficient stock or logistical issues preventing this, it should not make that promise.

• Example 2: Delay Notification for Mail Order

  A customer places a mail order for a gardening tool kit from a catalog that does not specify a shipping date. After 25 days, the company realizes the specific tool kit is out of stock and won't be available for another 6 weeks. Since no shipping date was given, the company initially had 30 days to ship. Upon realizing the delay beyond this 30-day period, the company is required by the rule to notify the customer about the new 6-week delay. They must then offer the customer the choice to either agree to wait for the delayed shipment or cancel the order for a full refund.

• Example 3: Refusal of Delay and Prompt Refund

  A customer pre-orders a limited edition collectible figure from a website, with an estimated delivery in three months. One week before the three-month mark, the seller emails the customer, stating that due to production issues, the figure will now be delayed by an additional two months. The customer replies, stating they no longer wish to wait and want to cancel. Because the seller notified the customer of a significant delay beyond the original estimated delivery, the customer had the right to refuse the extended wait. According to the Mail, Internet, or Telephone Order Rule, the seller must now promptly process a full refund to the customer, as consent for the delay was not given.