#ADS_LAW UPDATE 12 #2
DO NOT KNOCK STICKER
Consumer Action Law Centre developed the Do Not Knock Sticker in response to the huge number of cases it was seeing where door-to-door salespeople had misled or pressured families into deals which often left them worse off.
Last weeks court decision found that it did not matter if a consumer does not verbally request the salesperson to leave.
THE IDEA BEHIND THE STICKER
The idea of a Do Not Knock Sign is to avoid confronting a salesperson, and being caught in discussion.
Consumers may be vulnerable, or too polite to tell people to leave.
Putting an appropriate sign on the door may be the best, or only way, to communicate the request to leave the premises.
DOCUMENTED CASES
Consumer Action and community legal centres Australia wide have documented cases of door-to-door salespeople:
-selling to the elderly, people with dementia and people who don’t speak English,
-refusing to leave when asked,
-targeting refugee and remote indigenous communities,
-deliberately misleading consumers; and
-forging signatures as part of fraudulent sales.
POPULARITY AND SUPPORT
The popularity of the sticker was a great example of what community legal centres can achieve.
Community legal centres have their ears to the ground and are often the first to know which businesses or industries are causing trouble.
In the past some salespeople have taken advantage of vulnerable consumers.
The Do Not Knock stickers have already been distributed to over 300,000 people across Australia.
The immense support that the Do Not Knock campaign has received has led major energy retailers to stop door-to-door sales.
It has helped the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) take enforcement action and, most importantly, it has saved thousands of people from dodgy deals.
Note
Consumers in Victoria, New South Wales, South Australia, Queensland, or the ACT can ask energy retailers to put you on a ‘no contact’ by visiting http://donotknock.org.au/no-contact/.
