The European Consumer Centre, together with Euro-Label Poland, provides advice on how to shop online safely.
Are you planning to buy Christmas presents online to avoid crowds and queues in shopping malls? Are you worried that the products might not arrive on time or that you might fall victim to fraud? We provide tips on how to shop online safely to avoid disappointment.
Reports received by the network of European Consumer Centres show that consumers shopping online most often complain about the lack of or delayed delivery (40% of complaints), delivery of a defective product or one inconsistent with the order (30%), and unfair contract terms (13%), e.g., the entrepreneur refused to reimburse the customer for the shipping costs of a product that turned out to be defective.
– Sometimes the source of the problem is the inattention of consumers who forget to read the store’s terms and conditions or hastily click “buy now” without checking who the seller is – says Elżbieta Seredyńska, a lawyer at the European Consumer Centre.
So how should you shop to avoid disappointment? Here are some basic rules.
1. Check the contact details and credibility of the entrepreneur.
Look for the entrepreneur’s full contact details on the online store’s website. If they allow personal collection of goods, it is a sign that they have nothing to hide. Providing only an e-mail address, phone number, or PO box number is not enough to consider the seller trustworthy.
Note: A website address with a .pl extension does not necessarily mean that you are dealing with an online store registered in Poland.
2. Do not click on links in emails, as you may fall victim to fraud.
Every day, our email inboxes receive commercial offers from stores selling famous brand clothing, electronic equipment, or luxury cosmetics. If we are interested in purchasing one of their products, we should not “enter” the entrepreneur’s website via a link provided in the email, but rather type the store’s name into a search engine and click from there. Why? It happens that a fraudster impersonates a well-known store, having an identical-looking website. In this way, they attempt to extort money for “branded goods” that we will never receive.
3. Choose stores with trust certificates, look for reviews about the seller.
It is worth checking whether the entrepreneur belongs to a system that guarantees the application of good practices and specific service standards (e.g., the European Euro-Label Certificate). A seller who holds such a trust certificate has been verified by independent auditors and recognized as reliable and safe for customers. Membership in the system is indicated by graphic symbols that stores place in a visible spot on their website. These symbols are accompanied by relevant information about the scope of criteria covered by the certification.
Customer ratings from those who have previously used the store’s services are also a useful tip. It is worth looking for them on internet forums or review sites. Especially valuable are those marked as “trusted reviews,” as they were written by actual customers of the store, not, for example, its employees or competitors.
4. Check the security of payments.
Look for a padlock symbol at the bottom of the store’s website, which symbolizes a secure connection, or choose to pay via a standard bank transfer. During the transaction, check if you have a secure connection (in the https protocol – in the website address field) and whether the seller provides you with a step-by-step contract conclusion procedure.
5. Before making a purchase, check the costs and delivery time (postal or courier).
If the store guarantees delivery of goods within 24 or 48 hours from the moment of ordering, they must fulfill this assurance. However, if there are only a few days left until Christmas and the seller does not give us a guarantee of delivery within a specific time, ask about the possibility of personal collection or choose to shop at a brick-and-mortar store.
6. Remember that you have 10 days to withdraw from the contract without incurring costs.
If a gift purchased online did not please the recipient, you can return such a product without consequences (the exception being the costs of shipping the goods to the seller). The time to send a withdrawal statement to the entrepreneur is 10 calendar days in Poland and at least 7 working days in other EU countries (the product must be sent back within the next 14 days). The seller is obliged to inform you about this. If they do not, the deadline for withdrawal from the contract is extended to 3 months.
Note: The right of withdrawal does not apply, among others, to contracts for accommodation, transport, tourism services, and purchases made via bidding at an online auction.
7. Do not be afraid to file a complaint.
You have the right to file a complaint for any goods purchased in the EU within 2 years from the date they were delivered. If the entrepreneur does not want to accept your claims, ask for help from a municipal or district consumer ombudsman. In the case of unfair conduct by an online store based in another EU country, file a complaint with the European Consumer Centre – ECC Poland (22 55 60 118; http://www.konsument.gov.pl/).
8. Keep correspondence with the seller. In case of a dispute, you will be able to prove your case.
You should print or copy the page where the order confirmation appears. You can do this by taking a so-called screenshot (the Print Screen key on your computer keyboard). It is also worth copying the view of the store’s website with the offer you used in the same way, saving a copy of the contract and the store’s terms and conditions, and not deleting email correspondence with the entrepreneur. No later than at the time of delivery, you should receive confirmation of the conclusion of the contract with specific content in writing or on another durable medium.
More information about the rules for safe online shopping is available at: http://www.konsument.gov.pl/