The Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Market (ACM) has imposed penalties on five fashion webshops for violation of rules regarding the right for consumers to cancel their order. The total penalties amount to more than half a million Euros, and the names of the webshops are published by the ACM. Coolcat received the highest penalty of € 220.000,-.

The ACM concluded that the companies did not inform consumers sufficiently about their rights in case of an order cancellation.

The ACM emphasized that it is not sufficient to inform consumers about their rights in general conditions, or behind a 'FAQ' or 'Customer service' link. The information should be easy to find for example under a "cancellation" button.

Under Dutch law, the consumer has the right to cancel the order during 14 days after receipt of the product. There are some exceptions to this right, such as: a delivery of a product made according to specific requirements of the consumer; the delivery of perishables and the delivery of products that cannot be send back for hygienic reasons or audio products after the seal of the wrapping has been broken.

Full refund

In case of cancellation in time the consumer is entitled to a full refund of the complete purchase prize including delivery charges (regarding the delivery to the consumer).

The webshop may only refund with a credit note in case the consumer has agreed to this upfront or in case the consumer paid the purchase with a credit note.

The consumer has to bear the costs of returning the product unless the online retailer has failed to inform the consumer that it has to bear the costs of returning the product.

The decision of the ACM shows that businesses cannot permit themselves to be sluggish when it comes to implementing distance selling regulations.

If you have any questions about this subject, please contact Martin Hemmer.