If You Become a Victim... |
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| Our lives as consumers are founded upon contracts. Between a buyer and a seller, if there is an agreement that one party will buy and the other will sell, the contract is valid even if it is only agreed upon orally or without impression of seal. We must uphold a contract once we have entered into it. However, sometimes a consumer is suckered into a contract through personal solicitation or other means, and it is against the consumer's interests. To recover from this situation, it may be possible to cancel the contract as indicated below. |
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What is the Cooling Off System? |
What is the Cooling-off System?
If you make a contract for the purchase of goods or services through personal solicitation, telephone sales, multilevel marketing, or other methods, the law provides a "Cooling-off system" that allows you to cancel the contract unconditionally within a specific period of time. However some types of sales are not covered under this system; there are some of merchandise and services which are not applicable. For more details, please consult with Consumers’ Center.
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Cancelling a Contract During the Cooling Off Period |
| When you cancel a contract during the Cooling-off period, the payment you have made will be refunded and there is no penalty for the cancellation. If the item has already been received or installed, the seller has the obligation to collect the item and restore the installation site to its original state free of charge. |
Providing Written Notice of Cancellation (postcard) |
| In order to cancel the contract, you must provide written notice of the cancellation by postcard or other means, and send it to the sales company using delivery-certified mail or other guaranteed delivery service. If you have entered into a credit contract for the transaction, you must also send written notice of the cancellation to the credit company. |
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Keep the following documents as proof of cancellation:
- Contract (loan application)
- Copy of notice of cancellation
(Both address side and content side)
- Delivery receipt issued by post office or parcel delivery service
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| In Japanese |
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The Cooling Off Period
| Sales Method |
Coverage |
Period |
| Sales through personal solicitation(at home or workplace, Confidence Game, Appointment sales, Sales at exhibitions lasting less than two days, Pressure sales, and similar methods) |
In general, all purchases and services are subject to the Cooling-off System.(However, automobiles, funerals, cosmetic products which are partly used or consumed, health food products and cash transactions less than 3,000 yen are not covered. |
8 days |
| Phone Solicitation |
| Pyramid Schemes(Multilevel Marketing) |
No restrictions |
20 days |
| Job-offer induced sales (Home-working, product tester) |
| Continued Provision of Specific Services |
Designated 6 types of businesses( *beauty salons, language courses, home tutoring, cram schools, computer classes, matchmaking services) |
8 days |
| Door-to-Door Sales (Purchase of Precious Metals) |
Generally, all articles are covered. (However, the articles recognized as having no risk of consumer problems relating to door-to-door purchasing are excluded by a Cabinet Order.) |
8 days |
The Cooling-off period starts from the day that the notice of Cooling-off (in the contract or attached) is received. As of Feb 2013
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Cancellation Based on the Specified Commercial Transactions Low |
1) If you have been unlawfully induced into signing a contract through a misconception based on false explanations, concealment of important information, or other means during a personal solicitation or via other sales methods, the contract can be cancelled.
2) If you have been prevented from cancelling a contract, until that impediment is gone, you can cancel the contract within the Cooling-off period.
3) If a member of a multilevel marketing organization had a membership for less than one year, he/she may leave the organization. You may return any unused products purchased within 90 days from the purchase when you left and shall be refunded the proper amount. (Merchandise Return Rule)
4) In the case of Door-to-Door Sales, sellers (and consumers) can keep the articles during the cooling-off period.
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Midterm Cancellation of Continued Provision of Specific Services |
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Continued provision of specific services involves a contract that extends over a relatively long period of time, or involves services for which it is difficult to estimate precisely when results will be obtained or an objective fulfilled. For this reason the Cooling-off period applies for all sales methods, even if the method used was not a personal solicitation.
In addition, after the end of the Cooling-off period, the contract can be cancelled halfway for any reason by paying a cancellation fee. However, this applies only if the total contract is over 50,000 yen, or if the beauty salon treatments extend for more than one month, or if another service extends for more than two months.
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Cancellation of the contract for mail order business |
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In the case where the return policies are not specified in the purchase contract, cancellation of the contract should be accepted for 8 days from a delivery day.
However if policies regarding return are specified, consumers shall follow the policy on priority bases. Also return postage shall be covered by consumers.
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Cancellation of the contract for excessive amount of purchase made through door-to-door Sales |
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In the case where a consumer purchases an excessive amount of goods from door-to-door sales, the consumer has a right to cancel the purchase contract within one year. (However this act is not applicable when consumers have a special reason to make that contract.) Additionally purchase contract on credit is also subject to the cancellation.
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Prohibition of repeated inducement for customers who have once declined to make contract. |
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On door-to door sales, it is prohibited to sell a product repeatedly toward consumers who have once declined to make a purchase contract.
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Cancellation and Nullification based on the Consumer Contract Act |
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The Act enables consumers to cancel the contract when they misunderstand or are confused about certain activities by business enterprises. Also consumers are able to nullify unreasonably high price of cancellation fee for contracts and all or part of provisions for contracts that unfairly impair the interests of consumers.
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Annulment of Contract with a Minor |
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If you are a minor (under 20 years of age), you need the consent of a parent or legal guardian. Any contract entered into without that consent can be annulled by the minor or legal guardian. However, contracts that fall under the category of parents giving an allowance to children or minors falsely representing themselves as adults cannot be cancelled.
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Prohibition of Soliciting (Unwanted Door-to-Door Sales) |
Business operators are prohibited to solicit consumers to sell their goods unless the consumer makes a statement such as “I want to sell …” or “I want you to assess …” |
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