Help and FAQ

Before you buy

Many tips on buying on the internet are the same as for buying from a shop, such as:

• shop around! That great deal might well be on offer somewhere else – and cheaper;
• use retailers and services you know about – or ones that have been personally recommended to you.

But there are also extra things to remember when shopping online:

• a company might have a great website but that doesn’t mean it’s law-abiding
• make sure you know the trader’s full address – especially if the company is based outside the UK
• don’t assume an internet company is based in the UK just because its web address has ’uk’ in it
• look for websites that have a secure way of paying (known as an encryption facility) – these show a padlock
• check whether the company has a privacy statement that tells you what it will do with your personal information.

Look for firms that are part of an independent approval scheme such as TrustUK. These are companies that have signed up to particular standards. These include measures to:

• protect your privacy
• ensure your payments are secure
• let you know what you’ve agreed to
• tell you how to cancel orders
• deliver goods or services within agreed timescales
• protect children
• sort out complaints – regardless of where you live.

Please note: There are many different trader approval schemes worldwide – so check out what their particular approval means.

Buying

Once you have decided to buy something over the internet, be sure you know what is being sold, the total price, the delivery date, the return and cancellation policy, and the terms of any guarantee.

Other points to remember are:

• save all information relating to the transaction
• take care with the information you give out
• check the privacy statements
• check the security of payment details
• you may have some extra protection if paying by credit card.

Another page gives you further advice on buying from abroad.

Saving information

Save all information possible relating to your order. This might be pages from the supplier's website (eg the advertisement), the completed order form, and any e-mails.

Suppliers in EU countries should provide you with key pieces of information before your order is finalised. For example, they have to give you the identity of the supplier, the main features of the goods or services, the price, the arrangements for payment and any rights you have to back out. All of this must be given in a clear and understandable way.

The supplier also has to send you confirmation of the order.

Take care with the information you give out

Be wary of giving out your bank account numbers, credit card numbers or other personal information to a company you don’t know or haven’t checked out. And don’t provide information that isn’t necessary to make a purchase.

Privacy statement

Good companies are likely to have privacy statements on their websites. In these they will explain what they do with the information they have about you and how secure the information is.

Such companies will also allow you to say whether or not you want your information passed on to other companies.

Any company that sells or passes on details about you without your consent could be breaking UK and European law. Outside the EU there may be little action you can take against, say, a US-based company that has information about you.

Paying by credit card

You may have some extra protection if you pay by credit card. If you have a claim against the seller for breach of contract or misrepresentation - for example, if goods were not supplied, or were faulty - you may also have a claim against your credit card issuer. This could also be useful if the seller goes out of business.

This applies to goods or services costing more than £100 for one item (but less than £30,000), even if you have only used your card to pay a deposit.

Remember, you do not have the same protection if you pay by a debit or charge card.

Further advice can be obtained from your local trading standards department or Citizen’s Advice Bureau.

Security of payment details

Many companies allow you to send your credit card details via a secure (encrypted) page and you should aim to buy from companies that give you this choice.

You will be able to see on the screen whether the page you are on is secure. Often it will flash up a warning as you enter a secure page and you might see a closed-padlock symbol in the status bar at the bottom of your screen. If a padlock is not there, and there are no other guarantees, you should think twice about buying.

Frauduent use of your payment card

If someone uses your payment card (including debit, credit, charge or store cards) fraudulently to shop on the internet without your permission, you can cancel the payment and your card issuer must arrange for your account to be re-credited in full.

If things go wrong

If something goes wrong when buying over the internet from a company in the UK you have the same rights as when buying by telephone, mail order or any other method of distance shopping.

This page gives you a guide on the following:

• how to complain
• who can help
• taking it further
• going to court

You can also find advice on what to do if something goes wrong when buying from abroad.

How to complain

Contact the trader with details of your complaint, and give them a chance to put the matter right. Put your complaint in writing and make sure you include this information:

• date of advert and website where it appeared;
• date of your order;
• details of goods or service ordered;
• amount paid and the method of payment;
• any reference e.g. order or customer reference number;
• the reason for your complaint;
• anything else you think is relevant;
• how you would like your claim resolved.

Keep copies of letters along with a diary of events and a note of any telephone calls.

Consider withholding any further money until the problem has been sorted out, but check the small print of any contract you have signed. You should be especially careful about withholding payments if you have taken out a credit agreement.

Who can help?

If you are still not happy after complaining to the trader there may be a trade association or other body you can turn to for help. Some trade associations have codes of practice, which act as a guide as to whether traders have broken the association’s rules. You can find the names and addresses of trade associations from your local library or Citizens Advice Bureau.

You can get advice from a consumer adviser at a Citizens Advice Bureau or the trading standards service at your local council. Trading standards officers can investigate complaints about goods and services, and can take action on your behalf.

You can also seek the advice of a solicitor. Some solicitors work in law centres or advice agencies which offer free advice. Other solicitors offer a low-cost initial interview - your local Citizens Advice Bureau can help find one. There is also the option of going to court.

Trading Standards
Northern Ireland Trading Standards
Citizens Advice Bureau has an online advice guide

Taking it further

If you do not want to take your complaint to court you can try and solve the problem by:

• conciliation and mediation - a third party helps you and the trader to come to an agreement
• arbitration - an independent expert (an arbitrator) makes a decision after hearing both sides of the argument.

Some trade associations have these schemes - they are usually informal and generally do not cost a lot.

If you are not happy with the result of conciliation you can still go to arbitration or to court. But if you do not like an arbitrator’s decision, you cannot then go to court (except in special circumstances).

Before going to arbitration or to court you should get advice from the Citizens Advice Bureau or a solicitor. Remember that some solicitors work in law centres or advice agencies that offer free advice.

The Lord Chancellor’s Department publishes a useful booklet called 'Resolving disputes without going to court' which is available on its website.

Going to court

Sometimes, just telling a trader who is being unhelpful that you may go to court is enough to get your complaint sorted out.

But if you do decide to go to court, there is a special, low-cost way of suing for small amounts by using the small claims procedures in the county court (sheriff court in Scotland). The small claims procedure is meant for people to use on their own, without a solicitor representing them. Leaflets explaining the procedure are available from your county court office and the Citizen's Advice Bureau, who can also help you fill in the forms.

The most you can claim by using the small claims procedure is:

• £5,000 in England and Wales
• £750 in Scotland
• £2,000 in Northern Ireland

Court Service (England and Wales only)
Northern Ireland Court Service
Scotland Court Service

Costs

There is a court fee, but this is paid by your opponent if you win your case. Fees vary according to the amount claimed. Further details at www.courtservice.gov.uk

If you lose you will only have to pay your opponent’s costs if the court thinks you acted unreasonably by, for example, not attending the hearing or making a claim that was bound to fail.

Unfortunately, winning does not always mean that you will get your money. The defendant may refuse to pay, or may be out of business and be unable to pay. You may need to consider your likely chances of being able to enforce a judgment.

Where to go for help

There are a number of organisations who can give you further advice, or help you with your particular problem.

There are also international bodies that could become involved if you have a problem when buying from abroad. Please let them know if you do have a complaint – it might also help other people in the future.

UK

Trading standards - they have powers to investigate complaints about traders and will often advise on everyday shopping problems.

Northern Ireland Trading Standards

Citizens Advice Bureaux - they give free, independent advice on a variety of problems. They also have an online advice guide

Office of Fair Trading

We at the OFT will follow up complaints from consumers against companies – but please note we are unable to seek redress or compensation for individual cases.

Cross-border

European Consumer Infocentres - 13 infocentres provide advice and assistance on how to resolve EU cross border consumer complaints. You can find infocentres in France, Luxembourg, Spain, Ireland, Austria, Germany, Finland, Belgium, Sweden and Portugal.

In the UK, the infocentre service is provided through the Citizens Advice Bureau.

European Extra-Judicial Network (EEJ Net)

This network for settling unresolved consumer disputes out of court will make it easier for consumers to seek redress in disputes with suppliers from another country in the European Union as well as in Norway and Iceland. The pilot phase of the EEJ Net was launched on 16 October 2001 so the scheme is not yet fully operational.

Each participating country – including the UK - has set up a central contact point, or clearing house, where consumers can obtain information and assistance in accessing existing out-of-court alternative dispute resolution (ADR) systems in another participating country.

Please note that if you take your complaint to an alternative dispute resolution body you may not later be able to go to court if you are unhappy with the outcome. Check before you formally refer your dispute to the ADR body.

The UK clearing house is the National Association of Citizens Advice Bureaux. Tel: 01902 310 568.

International Marketing Supervision Network (IMSN)

The OFT is a member of the IMSN, a global network of national consumer protection agencies. Although the IMSN does not usually help individual consumers, it has set up a system to help the voluntary settlement of relatively small cross border disputes. Where the supplier is based outside the European Union, it is possible for the OFT to pass on suitable individual consumer complaints (a special complaint form is available) to the relevant overseas agency.The complaint form will then be forwarded to the business in question for a response.

Office of Fair Trading
International & UK Liaison
Consumer Regulation Enforcement Division
Fleetbank House
2-6 Salisbury Square
London EC4Y 8JX

Econsumer.gov

A complaint about an overseas internet business can be registered at econsumer.gov, an international consumer complaint database maintained by the US Federal Trade Commission. Your information can help the authorities to crack down on rogue internet traders in the future. Your complaint will be accessible to participating government law enforcement agencies. Most participating agencies cannot take up individual complaints - you should carefully read how they might use your details.

The site also provides general information about consumer protection in all participating countries and contact information for consumer protection bodies in those countries.

The countries involved are Australia, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Hungary, Mexico, New Zealand, Norway, South Korea, Sweden, Switzerland, the USA and the UK. The econsumer site is only intended for cross-border complaints - if your complaint is about a UK online business you should contact either the OFT or your local trading standards authority.

Internet service provider

If you made the link to the seller via an internet service provider (ISP), you could ask them for help. Check that your ISP is a member of the Internet Service Providers Association (ISPA). The ISPA is a trade association representing approximately 85 per cent of internet services providers in the UK. ISPA has developed a code of practice that all ISPA members must comply with. It addresses service quality and illegal material on the internet.

Your Rights

Many of your rights when buying online from a UK-based company are the same as when you buy from a shop. You can find these on the Your rights when shopping pages.

In addition, when shopping on the internet you are also entitled to:

• clear information about the goods or services offered before you buy
• written confirmation of this information after you have made your purchase
• a ’cooling off’ period during which an order can be cancelled without any reason and a full refund made
• a full refund if the goods or services are not provided by the date you agreed. If you didn’t agree a date, then you are entitled to a refund if the goods or services are not provided within 30 days.

These rights apply to all forms of home shopping, not just internet sales. Full details can be seen on the shopping from home pages.

There are cases where these additional rights do not apply:

• financial services such as insurance or banking
• online auctions - be careful unlike other sellers, can refuse to accept responsibility for the quality of the goods they auction. Read the conditions of sale with care.
• But, unless the seller is a private individual, the standard terms of the contract set out in the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1994 still apply
• vending machine purchases
• contracts involving the sale of land.