E-Commerce: the right of withdrawal

Are you going to launch an E-commerce website or an online store?

Have you thought about your customers’ right of withdrawal?

How to organize it? How to inform customers about this? And what are the deadlines?

All of these questions are important. Meanwhile register a trademark online for E-commerce website or an online store is beneficial

Let us summarize the main features of the right of withdrawal as provided for in Belgian law.

1. The principle is that for contracts concluded on the Internet (which therefore includes online sales), the consumer has a right of withdrawal of 14 days.

There are a number of exceptions to this rule (eg for goods made “to measure”, according to the consumer’s specifications; for clearly personalized goods; or for goods liable to expire quickly).

2. When does this withdrawal period start?

Attention, not from the conclusion of the contract! But from the day the consumer takes physical possession of the good sold.

However, the rule is different for services.

3. How should the consumer go about opting out?

The consumer must, before the expiration of the 14-day period set out above, inform the online seller (ie the E-commerce website, the online store, or their operator).

To do this, the consumer can use a standard form made available by the online seller.

But the consumer can also make a declaration, in any other form, provided that (i) this declaration is clear (ie unambiguous) as to the consumer’s decision to withdraw and that (ii) the consumer can prove that ‘he did send this declaration before the expiry of the 14-day period. The burden of proof in this regard lies with the consumer.

We must, of course, recommend to E-commerce sites and online shops to provide web forms specially dedicated to this right of withdrawal …

4. Information by E-commerce sites and online stores relating to this right of withdrawal is fundamental.

Because if this information is not delivered to customers and they are unaware that they have a right of withdrawal and / or if they are unaware of the way and the time within which they can withdraw, this will have an impact on the length of the withdrawal period, which then drops from 14 days to 12 months (from the end of the initial withdrawal period)!

In short: if you do not inform your customers that they have the right to withdraw and how and when they must go about withdrawing, the client will have 14 days (from taking physical possession of the good sold) + 12 months  to retract!

Poor information therefore means offering your customers a very long withdrawal period and therefore exposing you to relatively long-term legal and financial uncertainty.