According to new research, most Irish consumers are unaware of their rights when buying goods and services online with the majority not bothering to read the terms and conditions.
The findings of the report 'Consumers in the Electronic Marketplace' set out to examine the effectiveness of legal protections when consumers buy online.
Its findings showed that 78% of customers surveyed were not aware of any laws which protect consumers when buying online, and 71% never or only sometimes read the terms and conditions of sale before deciding to purchase.
Under the Distance Selling Regulations act 2001 suppliers are required to provide consumers with certain information about themselves and the goods/services provided to enable consumers to consider whether to buy or not.
However the research indicates that there is considerable variation in terms of compliance levels with these requirements.
Half of suppliers failed to provide adequate information regarding payment delivery or performance and over 30% failed to provide adequate information regarding the consumers right to withdraw. A quarter did not give enough price information, with most problems here related to whether tax was included in the price or not.
The 2001 regulations allow consumers a minimum period of seven days from the date of delivery to return the goods and get a full refund. However, only 10% were aware of this and 40% were not aware that you don't have to give a reason if you want a refund.
The survey recommends that government bodies and business representation organisations should do more to ensure higher levels of compliance with the regulations among suppliers, through the publication of guidelines on compliance and best practice.
The report was carried out by Mary Donnelly and Fidelma White, researchers at the Law Department at UCC and funded by the Irish Research Council for the Humanities and Social Services.
