Although I find most companies are good, I’m sure we’ve all been there when a shop or online seller doesn’t want to know when an item goes wrong.
In my case I purchased an electrical item from a French version of a major online platform. It had literally just gone a few days over a year from purchase when it stopped working. Sometimes we are told items come with a year warranty, but in the EU it is at least 2 years. Also, in France at least, there should be no onus on the buyer to prove the fault (such as through misuse), and the buyer shouldn’t be out of pocket and have to pay the return fees, even if the seller proposes to reimburse them afterwards.
I’m not a legal expert, but this was always my understanding. I had quite the exchange with the seller of the electrical item who had a different interpretation. They were polite up until the point i asked them to provide a return label. They responded by telling me if I’d bought from a physical shop, then I would have to return it at my own expense using my time, and fuel in order to do so. I was a bit taken aback, so explained the difference between distance buying and buying from a physical store…
After that I was told when I received the item it worked, and therefore it complied, so I had no right to ask a return label. They also continued to insist return was at the seller’s expense, and that they were compliant with the law so would do nothing more to help, despite I had provided them with the necessary EU legislation which contradicted their viewpoint.
Normally I would have just given up at this point, as it wasn’t worth the hassle, but because they were so rude and willfully ignorant, I used my Protection Juridique to send a letter to the company, which eventually did the trick… Rather than providing the return label, they actually just refunded me.
I thought I would share the legislation here as others might find it useful:
Nous vous rappelons que le vendeur a l’obligation de livrer au consommateur un bien conforme au
contrat, « il répond également des défauts de conformité résultant de l’emballage, des instructions de
montage ou de l’installation lorsque celle-ci a été mise à sa charge par le contrat ou a été réalisée
sous sa responsabilité » (article L.217-4 du code de la consommation).
Lorsqu’il existe un défaut de conformité l’acheteur « choisit entre la réparation et le remplacement du
bien » (article L.217-9 du code de la consommation) et ce, sans frais : « L’application des dispositions
des articles L. 217-9 et L. 217-10 a lieu sans aucun frais pour l’acheteur (article L.217-11).
