Which? survey sees online retailers flouting e-commerce rules

by Dan Leahul, Brand Republic 23-Oct-08, 10:55

LONDON - One third of the most-visited online shopping websites are failing to comply with electronic commerce and distance selling regulations on customer refund and cancellations, according to a survey by Which?

Of the 51 online shops covered by the survey, 16 failed to comply with at least one of the key shopping rules set by e-commerce and distance selling regulations.

According to regulations, online retailers are required to refund the full cost of an order if goods are returned, including the original postage charges to the deliver the shopping. Which? revealed that Next.co.uk, Fragrancedirect.co.uk and Empiredirect.co.uk all failed to do so.

A number of retailers also provided incorrect information to customers regarding their purchase cancellation period.

Websites including Orange.co.uk and Homebase.co.uk wrongly stated that customers have seven working days from the delivery date to cancel their order, when in fact they have up to eight working days.

Jess Ross, editor of Which? said: "The benefits of shopping online are great -- you can save time, money and see a whole range of products all at the click of a button. However, it's worrying that some of these websites are getting simple shopping rules wrong and putting their customers at a disadvantage."