Anglesey Trading Standards have been investigating whether retail websites are abiding by the law with a series of “virtual visits”.
The “virtual visits” were part of the County Council’s efforts to promote National Consumer Week (Sept 20-24) which focuses on shopping safely online. The visits are being conducted as part of a regional survey undertaken by all five North Wales authorities.
The North Wales Trading Standards are working to ensure that online businesses are adhering to e-commerce legislation. Research has identified consumers concerns when shopping online include payment security and potential problems with delivery.
Anglesey’s Senior Enforcement Officer, Martin Wyn Jones, explained, “Our main aim is to educate consumers about shopping safely online, what to do if things go wrong and how Trading Standards and other partners are making the virtual shopping world safer.”
“More people in the UK are choosing to shop from home, so it’s important to know how to buy things safely. Internet shopping in particular is on the increase and with sellers all over the world, it pays to know your rights.”
He added, “We are trying to gauge to level of compliance across North Wales with the future aim of rolling out the survey to the whole of Wales to gather more intelligence on the level of compliance amongst e-commerce traders.”
Nationally, as part of National Consumer Week, various themed days will be organised by the Trading Standards Institute (TSI) concentrating on issues such as fake ticket sites, online counterfeiting or unsafe products.
The Distance Selling Regulations 2000 cover goods or services sold without face-to-face contact. They cover the internet, television, mail order, including catalogue shopping, phone and fax.
The regulations say that you must be given clear information about the goods or services before you buy, goods must be delivered within thirty days unless agreed otherwise and there is a ‘cooling off period’ in some situations where you can cancel the contract to buy.
Anglesey’s Chief Trading Standards Officer David Riley added “We are here to offer advice and assistance to consumers when their online purchases if and when problems arise. My officers are also on hand to advise and educate retailers of their legal obligations in relation to e-commerce and online trading legislation. Recent data shows that many websites aren’t complying with legislation. We’re here to work with businesses, but when consistent breaches occur we’ll take appropriate enforcement action against the businesses ignoring our advice.”
The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has found that many businesses do not know their obligations under the Distance Selling Regulations, which provide additional protection for shoppers when buying online. Some businesses could also do more to address consumers’ concerns about privacy and security.
For advice and assistance with online purchasing if you are a consumer please contact Consumer Direct Wales on 0845 04 05 06 (English Line) 08454 04 05 05 (Welsh Line)
If you are a e-trader based on Anglesey and need more advice please contact Trading Standards on (01248) 752 840.
