EU Investigating Hundreds Of Web Sites After They Fail To Comply With Consumer Laws...

The European Commission is investigating hundreds of web sites after 55% of the sites which it initially reviewed were failing to comply with consumer laws, such as the Distance Selling Directive, E-Commerce Directive and Unfair Commercial Practices Directive. Many buyers were not properly informed about their cooling off rights under the Distance Selling Directive, in which consumers usually have at least seven working days to change their mind without giving a reason. For example, many sites that they would not accept the products back once delivered, or that they would only receive a credit rather than full refund. In other cases, consumers were misled over how long they had to send back faulty goods. In some other occasions, the Commission found that sites added unclear charges further down the order process – for example, they advertised free delivery but then added delivery charges at the end. The...