By Leonard Elias, Esq.
Miami-Dade Consumer Advocate

Yes, the holiday season is upon us, and that means that many consumers will skip the hassle of packed mall parking lots and long lines by shopping online or by telephone. Face it, it is a lot easier to use your fingers to dial a telephone number or click on to a web site rather than pounding pavement at a mob-packed mall. And on top of that, the gifts will be delivered directly without having to leave the house.

But what happens if your merchandise arrives late or not at all?  What are your rights?

You can get some relief from the federal Mail Order Rule, which addresses two problems: failure to deliver and failure to make a prompt refund.

By law, a company should ship your order within the time stated in its ads. If no time is promised, the company should ship your order within 30 days after receiving it.

If the company is unable to ship within the promised time, the company must give you an "option notice." This notice gives you the choice of agreeing to the delay or canceling your order and receiving a prompt refund.

There is one exception to the 30-day rule. If a company doesn't promise a shipping time, and you're applying for credit to pay for your purchase, the company has 50 days to ship after receiving your order.

If your mail order delivery is late, contact the company immediately to request a refund.   If you paid by cash, check, or money order, the business must refund the correct amount by first class mail within seven working days after the order is cancelled.  If you paid by credit, the business must credit your account or notify you that the account will not be charged, within one customer billing cycle, after the order is cancelled.

If the business cannot ship any of the merchandise ordered by you, the business must refund the entire amount you "tendered," including any shipping, handling, insurance, or other costs. If the business ships some, but not all, of the merchandise ordered, the business must refund the difference between the total amount paid and the amount you would have paid, according to your ordering instructions, for the shipped items only.

In addition, you have additional power when the purchase was made by credit card. Under the federal Fair Credit Billing Act (FCBA), you may dispute and withhold payment on credit card charges for goods and services that were not delivered as agreed. You must send a written notice of the disputed charges to the card company within 60 days after the first credit card statement was mailed to you. The credit card company has 30 days to respond to you. The back of your monthly credit card statement contains the basics of the FCBA.