How do you prevent your website from being taken offline by the ACM for violating consumer law?

Corporate Law

2 April 2024

How do you prevent your website from being taken offline by the ACM for violating consumer law?

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In the Netherlands, the Authority for Consumers and Markets (hereinafter: ACM) is committed to a well-functioning market between consumers and businesses. The ACM therefore supervises compliance with consumer law by companies. To this end, it can impose sanctions such as a penalty payment order or a fine on companies. Recently, the ACM once again proved that it does not merely issue warnings to offenders, but also follows through when companies disregard these consumer protection rules.

Electronics retailer’s website taken offline after ignoring warnings.

The company in question was TI-84shop, an online provider of electronics such as game consoles and smartphones. The company had already been reprimanded by the ACM in October 2023 because it did not clearly state its delivery time, did not honor it, and also failed to refund customers in time who wanted to withdraw from their purchase within the cooling-off period. Customer service was also difficult to reach, and negative reviews were blocked. This was enough reason for the ACM to impose improvements on the online provider, subject to a penalty payment of €25,000 per week with a maximum of €250,000.

Despite this, complaints about the webshop kept coming in until the ACM decided two weeks ago to take the website of TI-84shop offline, as well as all other webshops affiliated with its owner. According to the ACM itself, this was the first time it resorted to this drastic measure.

Legal requirements for webshops.

The violations by TI-84shop related to various rules that Dutch and European legislation impose on the online offering of products and/or services. For example, as a webshop owner you are obliged to refund the entire invoice amount, including any shipping costs charged for the outbound shipment, within 14 days of being notified of the return. It is also prohibited to manipulate customer reviews. In fact, you are even required to publish a policy on your website about how you verify that only customers post reviews and what you do to prevent fake reviews.

These are just two examples from the wide range of legal requirements imposed on a webshop. Examples of other requirements are:

Stating company information – As a webshop, you are obliged to state company information such as: telephone number, email address, business address, Chamber of Commerce number and VAT number in a clear and findable way on your website.
Right of withdrawal (cooling-off period) – In the Netherlands, customers have the right to return a product within 14 days of receipt without giving a reason, the so-called right of withdrawal. Webshops must inform customers about their right of withdrawal and the procedure for returning goods.
General terms and conditions – As a webshop, you are obliged to publish general terms and conditions on your website that comply with consumer law. Avoid provisions that appear on the grey and black lists.
Privacy policy and compliance – As a webshop, you are obliged to ensure that the organization and webshop comply with the rules set by the GDPR, since you process the personal data of customers/visitors. Think, for example, of a privacy policy, cookie statement, and a register of processing activities and incidents.
Provision of information – You must provide customers (on separate information pages) with sufficient information about the products or services you offer, including prices, taxes, shipping costs, payment methods and delivery conditions.
SSL certificate – To better protect data, you are required to have an SSL certificate for your webshop. An SSL certificate can also have a positive effect on your ranking within Google.

Are you wondering whether your webshop meets the requirements imposed by Dutch and European legislation? Do you want to make your webshop privacy compliant, or are your general terms and conditions or GDPR documentation and/or cookie banners due for an update? The lawyers at The Legal Company specialize in this and can take all your legal concerns off your hands. Contact us via 020-3450152, email us at info@thelegalcompany.nl or drop by for a cup of coffee and an introduction!

Nothing is as changeable as legislation and regulation. Please note that our blogs may no longer align with current legislation and regulations and may therefore be outdated. If you have questions or a problem relating to this blog, or if you require legal assistance, please contact us.

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