"What You Must Do If You Learn You Cannot Ship on Time
When you learn that you cannot ship on time, you must decide whether you will ever be able to ship the order. If you decide that you cannot, you must promptly cancel the order and make a full refund.
If you decide you can ship the order later, you must seek the customer’s consent to the delay. You may use whatever means you wish to do this -- such as the telephone, fax, mail, or email -- as long as you notify the customer of the delay reasonably quickly. The customer must have sufficient advance notification to make a meaningful decision to consent to the delay or cancel the order.
Some businesses adopt internal deadlines that are earlier than those set by the Rule to ensure that their delay notices give all customers a meaningful opportunity to consent to the delay. If businesses fail to ship or give delay notifications by their internal deadlines, they automatically cancel the orders and make refunds.
In any event, no notification to the customer can take longer than the time you originally promised or, if no time was promised, 30 days. If you cannot ship the order or provide the notice within this time, you must cancel the order and make a prompt refund.
They were required to automatically refund the money paid thirty days after the agreed delivery date.
. . .
[If , aster receiving an order, you learn that you cannot deliver as agreed,]
nstead of seeking the customer’s consent to delay, you can always cancel the order and send a refund. In that case, you must notify the customer and send the refund within the time you would have sent any delay notice required by the Rule.
. . .
How Quickly You Must Make a Refund
When you must make a Rule-required refund, the following applies:
- If the customer paid by cash, check, money order, or by credit where a third party is the creditor, or by any other method except credit where you are a creditor, you must refund the correct amount within seven working days after the order is cancelled.
- If the customer paid by credit where you are a creditor, you must credit the customter's account or notify the customer that the account will not be charged within one billing cycle after the order is cancelled.
How Much You Must Refund
If you cannot ship any of the merchandise ordered by the customer, you must refund the entire amount the customer "tendered," including any shipping, handling, insurance, or other costs. If you ship some, but not all, of the merchandise ordered, you must refund the difference between the total amount paid and the amount the customer would have paid, according to your ordering instructions, for the shipped items only.
. . .
Why You Should Comply with the Rule
Merchants who violate the Rule can be sued by the FTC for injunctive relief, monetary civil penalties of up to $41,484 per violation (any time during the five years preceding the filing of the complaint), and consumer redress (any time during the three years preceding the filing of the complaint). When the mails are involved, the Postal Service also has authority to take action for problems such as non-delivery. State law enforcement agencies can take action for violating state consumer protection laws."
Federal Trade Commission explaining "30 Day Rule."
If a seller says on-line that it will deliver by X date knowing, or having reason to know, they will not make that date, it is arguably Wire Fraud, a federal felony punishable by years in prison and large fines - per count
"Scam" = ?
