Online shopping, sale – illustrative photo.
Prague – Almost 80 percent of inspections of online sellers carried out by the Czech Trade Inspection Authority (ČOI) last year revealed violations of legal regulations. Most often, traders did not inform about the possibilities of a complaint and some gave false information about the product or about themselves, said inspection spokesman Jiří Fröhlich in today's press release. According to him, the result is not a picture of the entire market, as the inspections were mainly focused on sellers who had received more complaints, or whose inspections had already revealed problems in the past.
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ČOI carried out 1,064 inspections of online sellers last year. It found violations of regulations in 839 cases. For some sellers, inspectors found several deficiencies at the same time. There were over 1,800 violations of the Consumer Protection Act alone. Another 230 offenses related to other legal regulations, the compliance of which is monitored by the ČOI.
Most often, in 464 cases, last year sellers were guilty of violating the obligation to properly inform about the scope, conditions and the method of making a claim. In 383 cases, the inspection found deceptive behavior, such as providing false information or information misleading the customer.
In 309 cases, traders or service providers neglected to provide essential information to consumers, or concealed it or provided information in a vague manner. “In 300 cases, the seller did not inform the consumer in any way about the subject of the out-of-court settlement of consumer disputes,” said ČOI.
Last year, 863 fines issued by inspections during the control of online sellers became final. Altogether, it was 13,760,000 CZK. The highest legal fine, CZK 750,000, was imposed on LUNZO s.r.o. Among other things, the company provided false information about user satisfaction on its website, thereby committing unfair business practices.
Last year, the inspection expanded the list of risky websites at www.rizikove.cz by another 365 new addresses. At the same time, he warns against so-called shopping galleries where the actual seller is unknown and which only require advance payments. “ČOI registers complaints about the delivery of goods with a long time delay, or the non-delivery of goods at all,” said Fröhlich. Solving complaints or returning goods can be difficult for consumers in such a case.
