After her favorite team was perfect in the preseason, Lily Lions just knew that this was their Super Bowl year. Because she couldn’t go to the game, Lily decided to purchase a gigantic, 70” Sony plasma TV to watch the big game with her friends. Unfortunately for Lily, the day after she purchased the TV, her team had a heart-breaking loss keeping them from the Super Bowl. Now Lily wants to return the TV. When she calls ShortCircuit City, her previously over-friendly salesperson is not so friendly. In fact, he says there is nothing he can do and the TV is hers. Lily says she knows her legal rights and that she has 3 days to cancel a consumer purchase. Is she right?
No. Many consumers have the mistaken belief that under Texas law they have 3 days to change their mind and cancel all consumer contracts. The 3 day “cooling off” period applies only to very specific situations involving sales made at facilities other than the seller’s place of business (e.g. door-to-door, convention center, etc.). The salesperson must orally inform the consumer of their right to cancel at the time of the sale and provide the consumer with a dated cancellation form which shows the name and address of the seller. To cancel the contract and obtain a full refund, the consumer must sign, date and return the cancellation form back to the seller before midnight of the third business day after the sale. The seller then has 10 business days to refund the money and either retrieve or abandon the goods purchased by the consumer.
As usual, there are several exceptions to the 3 day rule. These include, but are not limited to, goods or services purchased for less than $25.00, the purchase of insurance or farm equipment, sales involving an attorney or broker, or sales made pursuant to prior negotiations which occurred at the seller’s business establishment. Moreover, the law does not apply to sales conducted entirely by telephone or mail, where there is no other contract between the buyer and seller.
See Texas Business And Commerce Code § 39.001.