Title 32
SECTION 552.60
552.60 Supervision of on-post commercial activities.
§ 552.60 Supervision of on-post commercial activities.(a) General. (1) Installation commanders will ensure that all agents are given equal opportunity for interviews, by appointment, at the designated areas.
(2) DOD personnel will not act in any official or business capacity, either directly or indirectly, as liaison with agents to arrange appointments.
(3) Home address of members of the command or unit will not be given to commercial enterprises or individuals engaged in commercial solicitation, except when required by Army Regulation 340-17 and Army Regulation 340-21. The written consent of the individual must be obtained first.
(b) Hours and location for solicitation. (1) Military personnel and their dependents will be solicited individually, by specific appointment, and at hours designated by the installation commander or his designee. Appointments will not interfere with any military duty. Door-to-door solicitation without a prior appointment, including solicitation by personnel whose ultimate purpose is to obtain sales (e.g., soliciting future appointments), is prohibited. Solicitors may contact prospective clients initially by methods such as advertising, direct mail, and telephone.
(2) Commanders will provide one or more appropriate locations on the installation where agents may interview prospective purchasers. If space and other factors dictate limiting the number of agents who may use designated interviewing areas, the installation commander may publish policy covering this matter.
(c) Regulations to be read by solicitors. A conspicuous notice of installation regulations will be posted in a form and a place easily accessible to all those conducting on-post commercial activities. Each agent authorized to solicit must read this notice and appropriate installation regulations. Copies will be made available on installations. When practicable, as determined by the installation commander, persons conducting on-base commercial activities will be furnished a copy of the applicable regulations. Each agent seeking a permit must acknowledge, in writing, that he has read the regulations, understands them, and further understands that any violation or noncompliance may result in suspension of the solicitation privilege for himself, his employer, or both.
(d) Forbidden solicitation practices. Installation commanders will prohibit the following:
(1) Solicitation during enlistment or induction processing or during basic combat training, and within the first half of the one station unit training cycle.
(2) Solicitation of “mass,” group, or “captive” audiences.
(3) Making appointments with or soliciting of military personnel who are in an “on-duty” status.
(4) Soliciting without an appointment in areas used for housing or processing transient personnel, or soliciting in barracks areas used as quarters.
(5) Use of official identification cards by retired or Reserve members of the Armed Forces to gain access to military installations to solicit.
(6) Offering of false, unfair, improper, or deceptive inducements to purchase or trade.
(7) Offering rebates to promote transaction or to eliminate competition. (Credit union interest refunds to borrowers are not considered a prohibited rebate.)
(8) Use of any manipulative, deceptive, or fraudulent device, scheme, or artifice, including misleading advertising and sales literature.
(9) Any oral or written representations which suggest or appear that the Department of the Army sponsors or endorses the company or its agents, or the goods, services, and commodities offered for sale.
(10) Commercial solicitation by an active duty member of the Armed Forces of another member who is junior in rank or grade, at any time, on or off the military installation (Army Regulation 600-50).
(11) Entry into any unauthorized or restricted area.
(12) Assignment of desk space for interviews, except for specific prearranged appointments. During appointments, the agent must not display desk or other signs announcing the name of the company or product affiliation.
(13) Use of the “Daily Bulletin” or any other notice, official, or unofficial, announcing the presence of an agent and his availability.
(14) Distribution of literature other than to the person being interviewed.
(15) Wearing of name tags that include the name of the company or product that the agent represents.
(16) Offering of financial benefit or other valuable or desirable favors to military or civilian personnel to help or encourage sales transactions. This does not include advertising material for prospective purchasers (such as pens, pencils, wallets, and notebooks, normally with a value of $1 or less).
(17) Use of any portion of installation facilities, to include quarters, as a showroom or store for the sale of goods or services, except as specifically authorized by regulations governing the operations of exchanges, commissaries, non-appropriated fund instrumentalities, and private organizations. This is not intended to preclude normal home enterprises, providing State and local laws are complied with.
(18) Advertisements citing addresses or telephone numbers of commercial sales activities conducted on the installation.
(e) Business reply system. Agents who desire to use a business reply card system will include the information on the card which a military member can complete to indicate where and when the member can meet the agent to discuss the subject. The meeting place should be that established in accordance with paragraph (b)(2) of this section, if the meeting is to be on the installation. This procedure should assist in removing any impression that the agent or his company are approved by the Department of the Army. It should further prevent an undesirable situation (e.g., military personnel paged on a public address system or called by a unit runner to report to the orderly room).