The majority of UK consumer Web sites could be breaching government
regulations covering consumer rights, the Office of Fair Trading
(OFT) has warned.
Hazel WardFindings from a survey carried out by the OFT showed that, of
637 consumer sites reviewed, some 52% failed to give easily
accessible information about refunds or exchange policies. The
Internet sweep, carried out by the OFT and 28 trading standards
bodies, was designed to investigate what type of advice, if any,
was offered to consumers before buying online.
By law, failure to give the consumer full information on goods
or services purchased over the Internet, particularly about the
right to cancel an order or claim a refund, can put a business in
breach of the Distance Selling Regulations which came into force at
the end of October last year.
Chris Barnes, IT solicitor with Eversheds, said ignorance was
the main reason why so many sites were not compliant. "Web sites in
the UK are not very good at telling consumers what their rights
are," he said.
"The risk to the retailer for non-compliance is no longer
criminal sanctions, but it is still serious. Trading Standards
authorities can make your life miserable by hounding you for
non-compliance. Not only that, but your reputation as a business
will suffer very badly, especially if the OFT gets programmes like
Watchdog involved."
hazel.ward@rbi.co.uk