Can I cancel a bin I booked over the phone in Ontario?

Phone bookings sit in a gap in Ontario's Consumer Protection Act, 2002, and the answer depends on what the agreement looks like on paper.

The Act gives a 10-day cancellation right under s.43(1) for a "direct agreement," which the Act defines as one "negotiated or concluded in person at a place other than (a) at the supplier's place of business, or (b) at a market place." A phone call is not in person, so a phone booking does not meet that definition and the 10-day right does not apply to it automatically.

A phone booking fits the Act's remote agreement, one "entered into when the consumer and supplier are not present together" (s.44 to s.47), which has its own disclosure and written-copy requirements. The cancellation rights under those sections turn on whether the company gave you the required disclosures and delivered a written copy of the agreement. The rules are similar in structure to those for internet agreements: if the required steps were missed, a cancellation right opens, but the trigger is the missing step, not the booking method alone.

What does apply regardless of how you booked: s.22 says every future performance agreement must be in writing when the amount is over the prescribed threshold (O. Reg. 17/05 sets that at $50). A bin rental where delivery, pickup or payment happens after you book is a future performance agreement. Under s.23, if you did not receive a written copy that meets the Act's requirements, you may cancel within one year. That is the clearest protection available for a phone booking where nothing was sent to you in writing.

Practically, this means the written confirmation the company sends after your call matters a great deal. Read it before the bin arrives. Check whether it names a cancellation window, a deposit condition, and what happens if you cancel after delivery. Ask the company to confirm the cancellation terms in writing before you commit, because the Act's protections depend partly on what was or was not disclosed.

Before you confirm the booking, ask the company exactly what it will charge if you need to cancel after the bin has been delivered.