Online retailers have been warned by the Office of Fair Trading
to make their terms and conditions more transparent in the run up
to Christmas.
The OFT has written to 62 of the top online retailers after a
sweep of 156 websites found signs that many may not be fully
complying with consumer protection law.
It discovered that a third of sites that provided information on
cancellation appeared to impose “unreasonable
restrictions” on customers’ rights to a refund. Most
common, it says, was requiring that the product must be in the
original packaging or in the original condition, which “can
infringe on consumers’ rights to reasonably inspect/ assess the
product”. The OFT also found that 60 per cent of online
shops provided a web contact form rather than an email contact
address, as required by the Ecommerce Regulations. Two per cent
provided no electronic contact details at all.
Further, while 60 per cent of sites indicated upfront that
compulsory charges would be added to the first price shown,
almost a quarter (24 per cent) of these sites went on to add
further unexpected charges at the checkout.
Traders that do not make amendments to comply with the law risk
formal enforcement action from the OFT or Local Trading Standards
Services.
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