Consumer Authority calls on consumers to read the fine print

After taking stock of sets of general terms & conditions for durable consumer goods in several sectors, the Consumer Authority found that these terms & conditions often wrongly curtail consumers' rights in a number of areas. This applies mostly to matters such as guarantee and liability, delivery times and complaint periods. Marije Hulshof of the Consumer Authority explains: "We regard good general terms & conditions as the starting point of fair trade. General terms & conditions - the 'fine print' - lay down the rules between the business and the consumer. Whether they're called terms & conditions of the guarantee, terms of delivery, or general terms & conditions, we see that consumers' basic rights are regularly curtailed in practice. This is why we are calling on consumers not to take the fine print too literally and to be alert."

Examples of general terms & conditions which wrongfully curtail consumers' rights are:

• Guarantee: for a defective product the terms & conditions wrongfully refer the consumer to the manufacturer, while the consumer should claim his rights from the retailer first.
• Liability: the retailer accepts no liability for damage in any case.
• Delivery time: retailers wrongfully claim that no rights can be derived from an agreed delivery period.
• Complaints period: the retailer states that complaints about a defective product can only be made within 14 days, while the law states that the consumer has two months after discovering the defect.
• Advance payment: advance payment of the full purchase price is demanded, while the law states that the seller can only demand a maximum advance payment of 50% of the purchase price in the general terms & conditions.

Marije Hulshof: "Our initial stocktaking shows that we had good reason to place the issue of general terms & conditions on our agenda. In particular unilaterally adopted general terms & conditions can hinder consumers. We can call businesses that employ unreasonably onerous terms & conditions to account for this and demand that they put their terms & conditions in order. Because we assume that not all consumers read the fine print before all of their purchases, we will continue our investigation. We will examine the conditions of the large chains that sell more expensive and durable consumer goods."