EU says electronic retail sites mislead consumers

The EU urges the public to be cautious when purchasing electronics from online retailers.

The European Union urged consumers on Wednesday to be wary of misleading selling tactics by online electronic goods retailers marketing items like digital cameras, game consoles, laptops and mobile phones.

EU Consumer Affairs Commissioner Meglena Kuneva said an investigation by national and EU experts had found that 55 percent of 369 Web sites checked "are letting consumers down," using dubious selling techniques that had to be changed.

She said they intentionally misled consumers over pricing, buyers’ rights and how to contact the online retailers.

"This is a Europe-wide problem … There is a lot of work to be done in the months ahead to clean up this sector," Kuneva said. "Consumers deserve better."

Under EU consumer laws, traders must provide clear information as to the total cost of an item, including delivery and taxes. A fair returns policy must also be clearly stated on Web sites.

Kuneva said a high number of complaints about misleading selling tactics had streamed into national consumer centers across the EU.

National authorities across the 27-nation bloc and in Norway and Iceland will now contact online traders found to be contravening consumer rights laws.

The crackdown follows similar action taken by the EU against misleading flight and holiday ticketing and pricing policies on airline and travel agency Web sites.

Kuneva also acknowledged that EU countries needed to do more to ensure consumers could buy freely and fairly within the bloc’s single retail market, which was set up in the late 1980s but has so far not led to the end of companies imposing restrictions on cross-border online retailing. In some cases, online traders refuse to deliver goods to consumers that live in other EU countries.

The EU investigation failed to release the names of the retailers found to be running foul of the EU rules, but Kuneva said follow-up checks will be conducted before mid-2010 to ensure changes were being made to comply.

Germany listed the highest number of online retailers, with 21, that were red-flagged, followed by Spain, with 15, and Sweden, 13.

The value of online retailing of electronic goods in the EU was worth euro7 billion ($10 billion) in 2007, according to the latest EU statistics available.