New law lets buyers check before paying

A new law allowing customers to open packages of products they ordered online before paying for them has taken effect, according to the Royal Thai Police (RTP).
According to Prime Minister’s Office Minister Jiraporn Sindhuprai, the notification was announced in the Royal Gazette on July 5 and went into effect on Oct 3, giving logistic and delivery companies time to adjust to the new law.
The cash-on-delivery (CoD) law is also known as the Contract Committee Notification on CoD Service law.
In the wave of ever-growing online shopping popularity, the law protects customers and logistics companies in CoD transactions, said Ms Jiraporn.
It ensures that customers can refuse to make a payment if they receive defective or damaged items upon delivery or items that do not match their orders, she said.
Customers can return such goods in their entire batch even if only some items in the set were incorrectly ordered.
If the goods differ from what they ordered or are damaged, a customer must return them within five days, and the money must be returned to the customer within 15 days.
The law requires a delivery driver to issue a receipt to a customer right after payment is made. The receipt must contain the buyer’s information, tracking numbers, order details, the driver’s signature, and that of the authorised person who issued the receipt.
The driver is required to record a video clip or take a photo of the customer opening the package upon delivery.
Delivery companies are required to pick up rejected goods from customers within five days of being notified of the rejection. The companies must collect the rejected goods at the point where they picked them up with no collection fee.
The companies must review rejection complaints and examine the rejected goods. If the complaint proves valid, the companies are to refund customers within 15 days if a payment was made.
Ms Jiraporn said the so-called “Dee-Delivery” (Good Delivery) measure helps streamline delivery service and create a fair business practice that benefits both customers and delivery firms.
It also protects against scams in which buyers are sent goods worth a tiny fraction of the items they ordered online.