During the week from July 1, 2024, to July 7, 2024, the Service Juridique handled a total of 18 consultations through various communication channels, including reddit, phone, mastodon, e-mail, telegram, messenger, and video call. The topics covered during this period pertained mainly to unfair general terms and conditions and e-commerce/distance selling.

A frequent issue brought forth by consumers involved unfair general terms and conditions. In seven instances, individuals expressed concerns regarding ambiguous or excessively restrictive terms in service contracts. In these cases, we advised consumers to carefully review their contracts, paying particular attention to clauses that may contravene EU consumer protection laws. We suggested highlighting and questioning any terms that seemed unusually burdensome or lacked transparency, and explained the process to request revisions or negotiate more equitable terms with the respective companies.

Another prevalent topic was e-commerce/distance selling, which arose in eleven consultations. Consumers reported various issues including delayed deliveries, misleading product descriptions, and complications with returns and refunds. Our advice generally included keeping detailed records of all communications with sellers, ensuring that delivery terms were clearly specified at the time of purchase, and utilizing their right to withdraw from a purchase within the allowable period as per EU regulations. We also recommended the use of platforms with robust consumer protection policies as a safer choice for future transactions.

In very rare cases, consultations were unable to proceed due to the issue being outside the scope of our expertise. This week, one such instance occurred where the inquiry concerned taxation, an area not covered by our consumer protection mandate. We provided the enquirer with information on how to access appropriate resources that may offer more pertinent assistance.

All consultations were conducted with the aim of empowering consumers with knowledge and advice to effectively navigate and resolve their issues within the framework of EU consumer protection laws.

This week counseling was provided by WhizzBang.