Online shoppers don’t know their rights: study
This Christmas, it is estimated €55 million of goods will be bought via the internet, with the average person spending €216. The most common purchases over the festive period are concert tickets, CDs and DVDs.
Internet sales are a huge growth area for business but a report by the UCC Department of Law shows more than two thirds of online shoppers “only sometimes” or “never” read terms and conditions of sale before purchasing an item.
The Consumers in the Electronic Marketplace study, by Mary Donnelly and Fidelma White, also shows online retailers are failing to fulfil their legal duties.
Under the Distance Regulations 2001, suppliers are required to provide consumers with certain information about their company and service to enable consumers to make an informed decision.
Half of suppliers failed to provide adequate information regarding payment, delivery or performance while one third failed to provide sufficient information regarding the customers rights to withdraw from a sale.
A quarter of online retailers also neglected to make prices fully transparent - mostly due to a failure to say whether tax was included in a price.
Mary Donnelly of UCC’s law department said yesterday that the survey results suggest consumers don’t realise how ill-informed they are when it comes to their rights when buying online.
The study shows one in 10 online shoppers don’t know goods can be returned within seven days of delivery. Just 40% of consumers knew of their right to return goods without giving a reason.
“Consumers believe they know their rights when buying online but often they are not aware of what their rights are. For example they think you have to give a reason to return goods bought online but you don’t. There is a seven-day returns policy for goods with the exception of airline tickets, transport or hotels. This should be at no cost to the consumer. We also found that a significant number of retailers don’t bring the returns policy to their customers’ attention,” said Ms Donnelly.
The UCC researchers say that Government bodies and business representative organisations should do more to ensure higher levels of compliance with the regulations by publishing guidelines on compliance and best practice.
Ms Donnelly added that last-minute Christmas shoppers should be extra careful to check the terms and conditions on websites.
“You have to keep a close eye on whether your legal rights are being taken care of. There is an issue for education when it comes to websites,” she said.
The research was funded by the Irish Research Council for the Humanities and Social Sciences.
