subject: Can I Refuse Something That Is Shipped To Me Cod? [print this page] When you're having things shipped to you, in almost every situation you will have paid for the shipping of that item well in advance of when it ships. The one time that this might not be true is if you're receiving something that was shipped on what is known as a COD basis. COD means collect on delivery, and if this is how your item was shipped to you, there are some different rules and laws that apply.
COD shipments are those that you don't pay for until you receive them. The way it normally works is that when something is shipped to you, you will receive the item, and then accept it and pay for usually the shipping and the cost of the item itself. You would usually do this with a money order or a certified check but there are some couriers that can accept credit cards when shipping COD as well. The part of the transaction that this all hinges on though is your acceptance of the package.
This is because everyone has the legal right to refuse something that is shipped to them COD. This is something that was made a law to make sure that people couldn't be taken advantage of by companies that shipped COD. Otherwise, they could misrepresent their products or ship damaged or low quality goods and still have a legal obligation upon you for payment. This way, the customer can always refuse to accept a shipment, and therefore not have to pay for it.
This isn't something that should be done casually however, and should in most cases be thought about quite a bit before it is done. Refusing a COD shipment means that the goods are going to be returned to the shipper, but it also means that the company is going to be responsible for the cost of return shipping. That, coupled with their lost sale, is quite a bit of an expense to them.
If you refuse something in this way for no concrete reason, you shouldn't necessarily expect the company to extend the COD shipping option to you again in the future. COD shipping is in a way an extension of trust, and refusing that shipment can make some companies feel like you've violated that trust, so you should only do so when there is a very good reason for the refusal, such as damaged goods, or items that do not fit the specifications of your order.
