What are sellers’ duties toward consumers who make purchases on line?
 

According to the Italian Code of Conduct (Decree n. 206/2005 - art. 52.1) the seller must comply with two fundamental informative duties:

Before concluding the contract, seller must provide consumer with the following information:

      a)     seller’s identity and, in case of payment in advance, seller’s address;
b)     product or service characteristic;
c)      product or service price, including taxes and levies;
d)     shipping and delivering costs;
e)     operative rules about payment, product delivery or service provision, contract implementation;
f)       the possibility to withdraw from the contract;
g)     operative rules for product delivery in case of withdrawal from the contract;
h)     the length of both the offer and the special price offered;
i)        le length of the contract in case of continuative/periodic product supply or service provision.

The information above must be provided in a written, clear and comprehensive way.  

Moreover, the seller must communicate:

      a)     all relevant details regarding the right of withdrawal;
b)     a valid address in order to lodge complaints;
c)      information regarding the Customers Care service and the commercial warranty;
d)     the way to assert one’s right of withdrawal in case of contract with a long or indeterminate length.

According to art. 64, in case of on line purchases consumer can withdraw from the contract within 10 working days starting from:

1)     in case of product supply, the day of product delivery. However, if the seller does not comply with his information duties, the term starts from the moment when consumer receives all the compulsory information.

2)     In case of service provision, the day of conclusion of the contract. However, as above mentioned, if the seller does not comply with his information duties, the term starts from the moment when consumer receives all the compulsory information.
 

In the following cases there is no right of withdrawal:

      a)      when the service provision starts within 10 working days following the contract subscription, with the consumers consent;
b)      when the product/service price depends on financial floating out of seller’s control;
c)       supply of personalized products, which are particular perishable or, due to its intrinsic nature, cannot be sent back;
d)      supply of either audiovisual products or originally sealed informatic software, opened by the consumer;
e)      supply of newspapers, periodicals and magazines;
f)        lotteries and bets services.
 

Consumers must withdraw from the contract by posting seller a letter by recorded delivery with acknowledgment of receipt. Consumers can also forward in advance their complaint by sending a email or a fax within 10 working days and confirm their claim during the following 48 hours by posting a letter by recorded delivery.

Correct execution of the contract.

According to the law, the seller must carry out the order within 30 days following consumer’s request.
in case the product or the service is temporarily unavailable, the seller must inform the consumer and give him back the amount already paid. The seller cannot provide a different product or service, even if of higher value, if the consumer did not give his consent while signing the contract.