With recent advances in technology and the increased ease of doing business across borders, it is very easy to shop around the globe.
Many legitimate businesses located overseas provide goods and services to Australian consumers without difficulty. However, unscrupulous traders may try to take advantage of overseas locations to target consumers in other countries to perpetrate scams, and frustrate the efforts of consumer protection law enforcement bodies.
When dealing with internationally based companies, you may not be protected by Australian law. Even if a foreign country has strong consumer protection laws it may be difficult to enforce that legislation on your behalf. Exercise caution when dealing with businesses overseas.
Warranties
If you buy goods online or by post from a business based outside Australia, you may not be protected by the same warranty rights as you have in Australia (see Warranties, guarantees and refunds in Related topics below). It is important that you read any contractual terms that apply to your purchase, and ask the seller what type of warranty rights you have and how you can exercise them.
Product standards
Products sold in other countries may not have the same standards of safety that are mandatory in Australia for some goods. When buying goods directly over the internet you should check whether a safety standard applies, and whether the goods meet that standard.
Protect yourself
Reliable businesses will not only abide by the law, but also adhere to internationally agreed best practice.
An online trader should disclose their business registration number, physical address, phone and fax numbers. Their website should provide ways for you to monitor the progress of your order and complain if things go wrong. The trader should clearly state their policies on refunds and exchanges, and how they will treat your confidential information. They should accept payments and personal information in a secure environment.
Make sure you understand all the terms and conditions and price information before agreeing to purchase.
If you do have a problem with an international business, you should contact the ACCC Infocentre on 1300 302 502 to make a complaint. Also, you may want to consider contacting the consumer protection agency located in the same country as the business.
If your complaint relates to a cross-border, e-commerce transaction log onto econsumer.gov and lodge a complaint. Econsumer.gov is a multilingual complaint site that is accessed by consumer protection authorities from around the world. It is an initiative of the International Consumer Protection and Enforcement Network (ICPEN) which enables law enforcement agencies from member countries to access complaints about cross-border, e-commerce transactions. The ICPEN site also gives useful tips to consumers on related issues.
Consumers should also be aware of ICPEN's annual internet sweep days. These sweeps, coordinated by the ACCC, target misconduct on the internet, identify problem areas and encourage traders to improve their websites. Recent sweep days have focused on topics such as misleading travel claims, misleading health claims and ‘get rich quick’ schemes.
