Online Purchase Returns & Reimbursement Of Delivery Charges

A European Court of Justice ruling has confirmed that sellers must reimburse initial delivery charges to consumers who, under the Distance Selling Directive, exercise their right to return goods they purchased online, over the phone or by post.

In Handelsgesellschaft Heinrich Heine GmbH v Verbraucherzentrale Nordrhein-Westfalen eV, the Court stated that the Distance Selling Directive authorises suppliers to charge consumers, in the event of their withdrawal, only the direct cost of returning the goods.

It ruled that if purchasers also had to pay a delivery cost, such a charge, which would dissuade consumers from exercising their right of withdrawal, would run counter to the very objective of affording consumers protection under the directive. The Court also stated that making the purchaser liable for both the delivery and return costs would represent an unfair balance in the sharing of the risks between the supplier and the consumer to distance contracts.

The ruling confirms the position of the Office of Fair Trading and Department for Trade and Industry on the UK legislation – Consumer Protection (Distance Selling) Regulations 2000 (click here for OFT / DTI guidance)

The message is clear – suppliers need to ensure that when a consumer exercises within a 7 day “cooling off” period his or her right to return goods purchased online, by phone or by post, they must comply with the directive and repay in full the purchase and delivery charge.

Sellers should also beware that they must clearly set out in the contract that the purchaser will be responsible for the cost of returns (with the exception of returning substitute goods, or when the goods are faulty or do not comply with the contract). If it is not set out, as is required under Distance Selling Regulations, the consumer cannot be made to pay and the seller could face the brunt of both the delivery and return costs.

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