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9 July 2010

Next flouts Distance Selling Regulations

Next has been breaking regulations aimed at protecting consumers when shopping online, according to an investigation by the BBC. The retailer has failed to refund delivery charges for goods purchased online, but have then been returned by customers.

Under the terms of the Distance Selling Regulations, which were introduced in 2000 to protect online shoppers, customers are entitled to a full refund including the initial delivery charge if they return goods within seven days. However, Next has been breaching the Distance Selling Regulations by charging customers for delivery costs, even if when the goods are returned within one week.

A Next spokesman said: "During the last three years, Next has not offered a refund of the delivery charge. This was in line with our interpretation of the Distance Selling Directive. However following clarification from the European Court of Justice in April this year on interpretation of the Directive, Next is in the process of implementing the necessary changes to ensure that delivery charges will be refunded."

The spokesman also said that customers had not had to pay for returning the goods. The regulations do not state that retailers must offer free returns.

Andy Foster, operations manager at the Trading Standards Institute, said: "If there is a failure to refund delivery charges that is clearly wrong and we will interpret that to be a breach of contract."

He added: "The majority of businesses we speak to are law-abiding, but there is a small minority that are not and those are the companies we need to take action against."