Consumer rights when buying from EU countries
Discussion
So, I'll try and make this concise.
I bought some car parts from a company masquerading as a UK company, but they operate from Germany. I purchased said parts which were described as being suitable for my vehicle, buy they aren't - not even close.
I've contacted them to cancel and return said "not as described" parts, but they are quoting it as if it's part of the "14 day cooling off" period, and are saying I need to bear the cost of returning them.
If I had simply changed my mind, then fair enough, but I haven't; they've sent parts that are just completely incompatible with the vehicle listed.
I can't really find a reference to it, but I suspect that it should be treated the same as faulty goods, where the consumer isn't required to bear the cost of the return?
In this instance, it would cost me quite a lot to return the parts.
I bought some car parts from a company masquerading as a UK company, but they operate from Germany. I purchased said parts which were described as being suitable for my vehicle, buy they aren't - not even close.
I've contacted them to cancel and return said "not as described" parts, but they are quoting it as if it's part of the "14 day cooling off" period, and are saying I need to bear the cost of returning them.
If I had simply changed my mind, then fair enough, but I haven't; they've sent parts that are just completely incompatible with the vehicle listed.
I can't really find a reference to it, but I suspect that it should be treated the same as faulty goods, where the consumer isn't required to bear the cost of the return?
In this instance, it would cost me quite a lot to return the parts.
TooMany2cvs said:
German consumer legislation would apply.
What do you mean by "masquerading as a UK company"? A .co.uk domain name is nowhere near sufficient to qualify...
A UK telephone number with .co.uk and liberal use of "UK" on their site.What do you mean by "masquerading as a UK company"? A .co.uk domain name is nowhere near sufficient to qualify...
I'm trying to research stuff, but it's hard finding these kinds of things in English
I have found a reference to "Nacherfüllung" and some info here https://www.hk24.de/en/produktmarken/fairplay/cont...
It states:
[i]"The goods must be defective. Goods are defective if:
- they do not conform to what the buyer and the seller agreed to.
- they are unfit for the purpose contemplated by the buyer.
The particular purpose contemplated by the buyer alone is sufficient to satisfy this criterium. Therefore close attention should be paid to everything the buyer says about the goods during sales negotiations, and any wrong ideas he or she may have about the possible use of the goods should be corrected.
- they are unfit for the purpose for which such goods are usually used and the buyer could expect that the goods are fit for such purpose.
- the seller, the manufacturer, or their assistants make representations about the qualities of the goods, especially in advertising or sales -negotiations, and the goods do not have these qualities. The advertising does not have to have taken place in Germany. It can have taken place outside of Germany as well. However, goods will only be deemed defective if the seller knew or had to have known of the representations or if the representations were capable of influencing the buyer’s decision to purchase the goods."[/i]
Which covers, in my mind, the context of something being clearly advertised as being a suitable fit, then not being. Further down...
"The seller must pay the costs of curing the defect, especially transport costs, toll fees, material costs, and labour costs. The same applies even if the buyer has relocated the goods to a different location than the commercial establishment or place of residence."
I'm hoping this will be enough to sort it out.
It states:
[i]"The goods must be defective. Goods are defective if:
- they do not conform to what the buyer and the seller agreed to.
- they are unfit for the purpose contemplated by the buyer.
The particular purpose contemplated by the buyer alone is sufficient to satisfy this criterium. Therefore close attention should be paid to everything the buyer says about the goods during sales negotiations, and any wrong ideas he or she may have about the possible use of the goods should be corrected.
- they are unfit for the purpose for which such goods are usually used and the buyer could expect that the goods are fit for such purpose.
- the seller, the manufacturer, or their assistants make representations about the qualities of the goods, especially in advertising or sales -negotiations, and the goods do not have these qualities. The advertising does not have to have taken place in Germany. It can have taken place outside of Germany as well. However, goods will only be deemed defective if the seller knew or had to have known of the representations or if the representations were capable of influencing the buyer’s decision to purchase the goods."[/i]
Which covers, in my mind, the context of something being clearly advertised as being a suitable fit, then not being. Further down...
"The seller must pay the costs of curing the defect, especially transport costs, toll fees, material costs, and labour costs. The same applies even if the buyer has relocated the goods to a different location than the commercial establishment or place of residence."
I'm hoping this will be enough to sort it out.
The EU law is:
http://ec.europa.eu/consumers/consumer_rights/righ...
and the law itself
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/...
This is then transposed into legislation into each country (in the UK it is the Consumer Rights Act) - no idea what it is in German but it gives you a certain level of protection and covers the issue at hand,.
Look at the part about 'conformity'
You have the rights as they apply across the EU particularly if the seller is targeting their activities towards the UK which it sounds like they are,
http://ec.europa.eu/consumers/consumer_rights/righ...
and the law itself
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/...
This is then transposed into legislation into each country (in the UK it is the Consumer Rights Act) - no idea what it is in German but it gives you a certain level of protection and covers the issue at hand,.
Look at the part about 'conformity'
You have the rights as they apply across the EU particularly if the seller is targeting their activities towards the UK which it sounds like they are,
Mojooo said:
The EU law is:
http://ec.europa.eu/consumers/consumer_rights/righ...
and the law itself
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/...
This is then transposed into legislation into each country (in the UK it is the Consumer Rights Act) - no idea what it is in German but it gives you a certain level of protection and covers the issue at hand,.
Look at the part about 'conformity'
You have the rights as they apply across the EU particularly if the seller is targeting their activities towards the UK which it sounds like they are,
Thanks. I tried to explain this, but they're just ignoring the law and quoting their own bull.http://ec.europa.eu/consumers/consumer_rights/righ...
and the law itself
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/...
This is then transposed into legislation into each country (in the UK it is the Consumer Rights Act) - no idea what it is in German but it gives you a certain level of protection and covers the issue at hand,.
Look at the part about 'conformity'
You have the rights as they apply across the EU particularly if the seller is targeting their activities towards the UK which it sounds like they are,
What is unclear is how I actually get them to actually do what the law says - it's a bit confusing as to who does what.
cj2013 said:
Mojooo said:
The EU law is:
http://ec.europa.eu/consumers/consumer_rights/righ...
and the law itself
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/...
This is then transposed into legislation into each country (in the UK it is the Consumer Rights Act) - no idea what it is in German but it gives you a certain level of protection and covers the issue at hand,.
Look at the part about 'conformity'
You have the rights as they apply across the EU particularly if the seller is targeting their activities towards the UK which it sounds like they are,
Thanks. I tried to explain this, but they're just ignoring the law and quoting their own bull.http://ec.europa.eu/consumers/consumer_rights/righ...
and the law itself
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/...
This is then transposed into legislation into each country (in the UK it is the Consumer Rights Act) - no idea what it is in German but it gives you a certain level of protection and covers the issue at hand,.
Look at the part about 'conformity'
You have the rights as they apply across the EU particularly if the seller is targeting their activities towards the UK which it sounds like they are,
What is unclear is how I actually get them to actually do what the law says - it's a bit confusing as to who does what.
The likely answer to your question is that you'd have to pursue them in the courts of their jurisdiction. Which is usually cost prohibitive. Hence why I only buy things from abroad if they are *much* cheaper than buying here, or if I cannot buy in the UK.
As someone else said, paypal dispute or CC chargeback would have been good, and also why you shouldn't use a debit card for buying from internet/abroad.
That said, I have bought a lot of stuff from abroad and only encountered one issue. That was with a car part from the US. Luckily they were a pleasure to deal with and told me to bin the non-working part and they'd send another.
spookly said:
I only buy things from the EU or rest of the world if I'm willing to lose that money.
The likely answer to your question is that you'd have to pursue them in the courts of their jurisdiction. Which is usually cost prohibitive. Hence why I only buy things from abroad if they are *much* cheaper than buying here, or if I cannot buy in the UK.
As someone else said, paypal dispute or CC chargeback would have been good, and also why you shouldn't use a debit card for buying from internet/abroad.
That said, I have bought a lot of stuff from abroad and only encountered one issue. That was with a car part from the US. Luckily they were a pleasure to deal with and told me to bin the non-working part and they'd send another.
I've just checked this morning and it turns out I did pay via my credit card (Visa - they're both very similar looking and with the same bank, so thought it was my debit card but luckily not!).The likely answer to your question is that you'd have to pursue them in the courts of their jurisdiction. Which is usually cost prohibitive. Hence why I only buy things from abroad if they are *much* cheaper than buying here, or if I cannot buy in the UK.
As someone else said, paypal dispute or CC chargeback would have been good, and also why you shouldn't use a debit card for buying from internet/abroad.
That said, I have bought a lot of stuff from abroad and only encountered one issue. That was with a car part from the US. Luckily they were a pleasure to deal with and told me to bin the non-working part and they'd send another.
I guess I'll have to look at the chargeback thing, just never had to do it before so it's a bit new to me
TooLateForAName said:
You can actually do a chargeback on debit cards as well.
Just ring the bank, explain that the vendor has sent the wrong parts and refuses to refund and that you want to do a chargeback.
Would that technically be true, as they are only refusing to refund based on consumer law, rather than flat out refusing?Just ring the bank, explain that the vendor has sent the wrong parts and refuses to refund and that you want to do a chargeback.
Sheepshanks said:
Even in the U.K. enforcing consumer law is always a nightmare - it's not like you can go the Police. Trading Standards basically doesn't exist anymore and the people who always pop up and say "do a charge back on your card" have obviously never tried to do one themselves.
Waiting to hear back from the ECC office, but it's another example of how pointless the EU "open market" is - I may as well had ordered from China.Gassing Station | Speed, Plod & the Law | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff