After reading the Farnsworth section which stated that silence cannot be construed as acceptance, I was just wondering if it was legal for BMG Music to send me a CD and charge me for it if I don't respond to their offer. I really don't want this Barry Manilow CD. - Alex

-- Anonymous, November 09, 1998

Answers

On a practical note, Alex, you do know that you can always put the unopened package back in the mail and write on it "return to sender" and BMG will not charge you, right? At least, this is what BMG says you should do if you ever receive an unwanted CD from them.

On a broader note, the fact that BMG has developed this policy as a way for its members to, without contention, return the unwanted CD even though *theoretically* their failure to return the monthly notice on time indicated an acceptance of the CD offer, probably indicates that there is something sketchy about translating your non-answer to their monthly notice as an acceptance of their offer. This policy (and a couple of other remedies they make available to people in your straits receiving unwanted monthly CD's) probably was a brainchild of one of their corporate lawyers, or a result of a lawsuit, I'd guess.

If you keep the CD, however, it's probably legal for them to charge you since it would be unconscionable for you to keep the CD without giving them something (payment) in return.

- Emmeline (veteran of getting stuck with unwanted BMG CD's)

-- Anonymous, November 09, 1998

friendly advice

As a BMG veteran, I feel obligated to tell you to never order more than one CD at the regular price. Once you do that, you have fulfilled your obligation, then collect the rest of your free CDs (free except for the exorbitant S&H charges), and cancel your membership. Then join again. You can quit and join as often as you like, and you will always get 12 CDs for the price of 1. This works out to about $40 for the 12 CD's, as long as you never order more than 1 CD at regular price, which is how BMG makes money. (Also, you can sign yourself up as a friend before you quit and get 4 add'l free CDs, but that's tomorrow's lesson)

-- Anonymous, November 10, 1998