50% of electronics sites break EU law

MORE than half of all the major websites selling electronic goods across Europe are breaking EU consumer law, including over a third of Irish sites, a European Commission survey has found.

The biggest problem was sellers giving misleading information about the buyers’ rights, followed by misleading or missing information about the exact price of the product and no contact details for the trader. The commission, which coordinated the survey, yesterday warned the websites selling electronic goods they face fines or closure unless they clean up the misleading consumer information.

The survey of 369 websites selling six of the most popular electronic goods – PC related goods, MP3/4 players, digital cameras, game consoles, DVD players and mobile phones revealed that 203 were breaching EU consumer law. The online electrical market is worth about €7.2 billion a year.