And do politicians themselves comply with the law?

Written by Jelmer van der Linden on March 21, 2017

We regularly get feedback from our members that they think all the rules and duties go a bit far. This is understandable, especially when you find out that the web stores of the political parties (which ultimately make up the law) themselves do not comply with the rules and obligations. The saying "good example follows good practice" does not quite apply in this area yet.

Second chamber elections

Last week was the second chamber elections and then it is always good to take stock. As seems to be the rule of thumb in recent years, the VVD became the largest party. From such a party we would expect them to want to set a good example. Let's see if that happens.

The right of withdrawal

When we look at theVVD's online store, we quickly come across some mistakes. For example, I could buy a banner a 65,- on the web store of this political party. Because I don't have to give a company name, the consumer legislation counts here, i.e. should I not be satisfied with this banner upon delivery, I can claim the right of withdrawal. The right of withdrawal stipulates that I have 14 days to register the return after which I have a further period of 14 days to register the return. [caption id="attachment_63989" align="aligncenter" width="1024"]

The webshop of the VVD[/caption]The ACMhasalready given some webshops high finesfor not properly informing them about this legislation. However, what appears when we take a closer look at the web store of the VVD? There is no information about the right of withdrawal. Not only are we missing a separate page with the return information, even the general conditions are completely missing at the web store. So is this different with other online stores of political parties? No, according to ICTrecht, only the webshops of D66 and the Party of the Animals provide information about the right of withdrawal. And these webshops do not comply either, if we look at the general conditions of the Party of the Animals we read the following, for example:

Party for the Animals does everything possible to provide you with a perfect product. Nevertheless, if you are not satisfied with your order, you can return these items within 7 working days after receiving the order.

However, the 7-day period is already very outdated legislation. Alreadysince June 13, 2014,the period of 14 days for notifying the return counts after which consumers have another period of 14 days for actually returning after notifying. Reading further, we also come across other errors, for example, it is mentioned that when returning items, the political party will refund the amount paid within 30 days (where there is a maximum legal period of 14 days) and there are special requirements for returns (for example, consumers would not be allowed to return an order if they have not read the instructions for use).

Price and offer

When stating product prices, the law requires that it be indicated whether the prices are inclusive or exclusive of VAT (3:15d paragraph 2 BW). In addition, it is stated that it must be made clear when shipping and handling costs are calculated, and if so how much these costs are. When we screen the webshops we find out that most webshops do not do this. At Christen Unie, for example, they do not take it very close to mentioning extra costs, at the checkout it turns out that € 0.75 is charged for administration and unspecified shipping costs. At Groenlinks, we do see a neat mention including VAT on the product page, but unfortunately even here you are not informed in advance about any shipping costs (a € 2.07). It is also only possible to pay with iDeal, while it is mandatory to offer the consumer apost-payment option. By the way, the latter is not done correctly by most political parties. At the ChristenUnie we still see the possibility to pay by authorization, but it is unclear whether this authorization takes place before or after the delivery of the order.

Conclusion

We can screen every online store completely, but the message seems clear to me; there is something wrong with the online store of every political party. And it is okay to point at them with a finger. Especially since previous research by ICTrecht also showed that the web stores of the political parties did not comply with eCommerce legislation and thegovernment itself does not seem to know the law. We advise every political party to have their web store thoroughly screened. This can be done, for example, by becoming a member of Stichting WebwinkelKeur ;). You can easily sign up throughour application page.