1. Standardized information form.
STANDARDIZED INFORMATION ON WITHDRAWAL
Right of withdrawal:
You have the right to withdraw from this contract without giving any reason within a period of fourteen mandatory calendar days. The withdrawal period expires 14 days after the day when you, or a third party other than the carrier and designated by you, takes physical possession of the goods.
To exercise the right of withdrawal, you must notify us insert your name, your geographical address and, where available, your telephone number, fax number and e-mail address of your decision to withdraw from this contract by means of an unambiguous statement (e.g. letter sent by post, fax or e-mail). You can use the model withdrawal form but it is not mandatory. If you give the consumer the option to fill in and submit the information about his withdrawal from the contract electronically on your website, insert the following text: "You may also fill in and submit the model withdrawal form or any other unambiguous statement on our website [insert website address]. If you use this option, we will promptly send you an acknowledgement of receipt of the withdrawal in a durable medium (e.g., by email)."
In order for the withdrawal period to be observed, it is sufficient for you to transmit your communication regarding the exercise of the right of withdrawal before the expiration of the withdrawal period.
Effects of withdrawal:
In the event of your withdrawal from this Agreement, we will refund all payments received from you, including delivery charges (except for any additional charges arising from the fact that you have chosen a delivery method other than the cheaper standard delivery method offered by us) without undue delay and, in any event, no later than fourteen days from the day we are informed of your decision to withdraw from this Agreement. We will make the refund using the same means of payment that you used for the original transaction, unless you expressly agree to a different method; in any case, this refund will not incur any costs for you. If this is a sales contract where you did not offer to pick up the goods in the event of a withdrawal, insert the following text: "We may defer the refund until we receive the goods or you provide proof of shipment of the goods, whichever comes first." If the consumer has received goods as part of the contract, the customer will be responsible for the direct cost of returning the goods.
EXCEPTIONS:
According to Article VI.53 of the Code of Economic Law, it is not allowed to return for ''any supply of goods made to the specifications of the consumer or clearly personalized.''
Download the form of the right of withdrawal
Recommendations
First of all, it is important to keep in mind that when it is a B2C distance purchase - which is the case in our project - the right of withdrawal is in favor of the consumer. Upon receipt of the goods, the consumer has a period of 14 calendar days to withdraw. A conventional right of return can be established in the general terms and conditions of sale, but it cannot be shorter than 14 days. It can however be longer. If the website does not contain any pre-contractual information on the right of withdrawal, (i.e. conditions, time limit, modalities and model form) the initial period will be extended by 12 months.
It should be noted that the Economic Law Code also lists a number of exceptions to which the right of withdrawal does not apply. But this does not spare the website from the transmission of information. In other words, even if the right of withdrawal does not apply, the consumer must be informed. The absence of this information would constitute an unfair practice in the sense of article VI.38 of the Economic Law Code.
In view of the consequences of the lack of information on the right of withdrawal, we draw the attention of e-business students to the conditions for the proper communication of these.
- At what point must the consumer be informed of his right of withdrawal?
The consumer must be informed of his right of withdrawal before he is bound by a contract. There are three possibilities for this:
- Either the information is present from the first consultation of the site permanently.
- Or from the invitation to purchase.
- Or at the latest at the start of the order process
At the time of the conclusion of the contract, it is important to remind the consumer of the information before he places his order, but also at the time when he is about to finally validate it. The information on the right of withdrawal must be maintained and communicated again to the consumer even after he has placed his order.
- How should the information be communicated?
The law is clear in that it requires that this information must be in a form adapted to the distance communication technique used, in clear and understandable language. It must be legible, apparent and unambiguous.