What rights have "we" got as online consumers?

Red Sleeping Beauty

Does consumer law apply if the website is Irish ?
What about the likes of amazon.co.uk ? Or what about something outside of the EU like bangcd.com ?

jor el

Buying in the EU means you're protected by EU law. Outside the EU and you're on your own.

Red Sleeping Beauty

Cheers. So buying from the likes of cdwow, bangcd, play.com, hmv.com means that you've no rights at all ? Cause they're all outside the EU ?

jor el

HMV ship from outside the EU, but they're still a UK based company.

CDWow are Chinese, and you have no consumer protection.

Arcee

It's got more to do with the jurisdiction of the contract you make when you purchase than the physical location of the company. The details about jurisdiction should all be in the terms and conditions on the site. If you have an issue with your purchase, the regulations of the country whose jurisdiction the contract was made in will apply.

In the EU, the eCommerce directive applies and Distance selling regulations come in to play too. There are tons and tons of things that retailers are obliged to provide you with when they enter into an online contract with you. It's shocking how many people selling online are unaware of their obligations to the consumer. Of course they get away with it because the consumer is generally unaware of what they are entitled to.

The EU eCommerce directive from 2000 is here http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=CELEX:32000L0031:EN:NOT
I believe it was updated in 2002 though.

Details on distance selling regulations are here http://www.efc.ie/publications/legal_updates/articles/corpbank/distance_selling.html
These apply to any sort of selling where the consumer and retailer are not face to face, eg phone or mail order sales as well as online.

Also, it depends on what you are actually purchasing. The regulations above do not apply or have specific exceptions for particular things like financial services and I believe certain perishable items. There's some further info relating to Ireland specifically here http://www.citizensinformation.ie/categories/consumer-affairs/consumer-protection/consumer-rights/distance_selling

Red Sleeping Beauty

jor el wrote: »

HMV ship from outside the EU, but they're still a UK based company.

CDWow are Chinese, and you have no consumer protection.

But is HMV.com not a seperate company ? I'd imagine that HMV the shop you walked into and HMV.com the online shop that ships DVDs/CDs from Jersey is are seperate legally.
Amazon.co.uk use a sub-company called Indigostarfish don't they ? To get that cushy imports from Channel Islands/Crown Dependancies deal with regards to UK VAT.

Arcee wrote: »

It's got more to do with the jurisdiction of the contract you make when you purchase than the physical location of the company. The details about jurisdiction should all be in the terms and conditions on the site. If you have an issue with your purchase, the regulations of the country whose jurisdiction the contract was made in will apply.

In the EU, the eCommerce directive applies and Distance selling regulations come in to play too. There are tons and tons of things that retailers are obliged to provide you with when they enter into an online contract with you. It's shocking how many people selling online are unaware of their obligations to the consumer. Of course they get away with it because the consumer is generally unaware of what they are entitled to.

Like me
Consumers (even those who shop "face to face" ) are generally a bit confused about their "rights". After all, it's easier to go into a shop and argue with a manager about a refund than to spend ages emailing and phone calling a website in another with an address in another country. I don't think play.com or hmv.com have any kind of phone number for anyone other than the UK/Channel Islands/Crown Dependancies to ring.

Btw, I don't think the UK has that much control over them places like Jersey. As far as I know they're quite autonimous. If it comes to war or something the UK will step in but not too sure when it comes to taxes/VAT and the like.

_Whimsical_

Alan Rouge wrote: »

Like me
Consumers (even those who shop "face to face" ) are generally a bit confused about their "rights". After all, it's easier to go into a shop and argue with a manager about a refund than to spend ages emailing and phone calling a website in another with an address in another country. I don't think play.com or hmv.com have any kind of phone number for anyone other than the UK/Channel Islands/Crown Dependancies to ring.

If you search on boards I think someone has posted a number for play.com thats contactable from Ireland somewhere.

A good place to start learning your consumer rights in Ireland or to consult when you're confused is www.consumerconnect.ie.

www.eccdublin.ie provides information on your consumer rights when you buy anywhere within Europe (including distance selling). They run a helpline if you have queries and will act as an intermediary if you run into a problem with a particular trader.They can advise you on taking a case to the European Small Claims Court for problems with purchases under €2000 in value.

It's also worth bearing in mind that your credit card itself offers some protection when buying online internationally.If you don't recieve an item you've bought you can charge back the money you've spent within a certain time period specified by your cc provider. The same is true of paypal.

Red Sleeping Beauty

chilly wrote: »

It's also worth bearing in mind that your credit card itself offers some protection when buying online internationally.If you don't recieve an item you've bought you can charge back the money you've spent within a certain time period specified by your cc provider. The same is true of paypal.

True, all that but there's feck all protection online for Laser cards is there ?

_Whimsical_

Alan Rouge wrote: »

True, all that but there's feck all protection online for Laser cards is there ?

Yup true but then very few international online stores take laser.You still have the protection offered by consumer legislation using laser in the EU and Ireland.