About Us Code of Conduct for Members

Below is the code of conduct that applies to members of WebwinkelKeur. Members agree to this code of conduct during registration.

Definitions

Consumer: purchaser of a product or service who is a natural person not acting in the course of a profession or business

(Prospective) Member(s): the (part of the) company with (prospective) membership of WebwinkelKeur that offers products and/or services to consumers using the internet.

WebwinkelKeur: the organization responsible for managing the WebwinkelKeur quality mark.

General

All (prospective) members must comply with this Code of Conduct and the General Terms and Conditions of WebwinkelKeur.

Dutch laws and regulations are always leading and decisive.

In addition to this Code of Conduct, the General Terms and Conditions also apply to all (prospective) memberships of WebwinkelKeur. If the Code of Conduct and the General Terms and Conditions conflict with each other, the provisions of the General Terms and Conditions of WebwinkelKeur shall prevail.

Conclusion of agreement

Prices must be stated explicitly and clearly before the agreement is concluded. A (prospective) member may not charge any additional costs that are not explicitly communicated to the consumer.

Prices must be communicated to the consumer including VAT and any other levies.

In the event of price increases within 3 months of the conclusion of the agreement, the consumer may terminate the agreement free of charge. A (prospective) member shall expressly inform the consumer of this right of termination.

After the agreement has been concluded, the (prospective) member shall confirm this immediately by email. As long as the (prospective) member has not confirmed an order, there is no agreement and the consumer may terminate the agreement free of charge. This order confirmation shall in any case contain: an overview of the order, information regarding the right of withdrawal, complaints procedure, and warranty.

Company details

All (prospective) members must clearly state their address (no PO box), telephone number, Chamber of Commerce number, VAT number, and email address on the website. It is not sufficient to simply publish a contact form.

A (prospective) member undertakes to provide or make available the text of its General Terms and Conditions to the consumer before the agreement is concluded. The General Terms and Conditions shall be published in such a way that the consumer can save them.

A (prospective) member is obliged to clearly state a privacy statement on the site. See also the item "Privacy and security."

A member undertakes to state all communications, prices, and conditions in Dutch as a minimum.

Delivery and returns

Consumers must be informed of the Distance Selling Act and their rights with regard to returns. The minimum legal cooling-off period applied by a (prospective) member is 14 days after receipt of all products. After notification, the consumer has another 14 days to return the product to a (prospective) member.

If consumers decide to exercise this right, the (prospective) member will refund the full order amount (including any shipping costs) to the consumer within 14 days after the consumer has announced their intention to exercise their legal cooling-off period.

The (prospective) member will make a model withdrawal form available on their online store/website.

If the costs of return shipping are to be borne by the consumer, this will be explicitly stated by a (prospective) member.

The conditions for returns and the necessary actions are clearly stated on the website. Apart from the shipping costs from the consumer to the retailer (member), no other costs may be charged to the consumer.

Delivery must take place within 30 days, unless the consumer has expressly agreed to a longer delivery period. If this delivery period is exceeded, the (prospective) member offers the consumer the option of terminating the agreement free of charge.

The (prospective) member is responsible for the delivery. Any damage during delivery is at the expense and risk of the (prospective) member.

Payment and credits

In the event of termination of an agreement or any other payment to the consumer that is not subject to the right of withdrawal, a payment term of up to 30 days will be observed.

Any restrictions regarding the method of payment will be clearly communicated to the consumer.

Privacy and security

The website must clearly state how customer data is used. Use of this data is in accordance with the Personal Data Protection Act. Personal data may not be used for purposes other than processing the order without the express consent of the customer.

Customer data must be sent encrypted using SSL.

Duty to provide information

Webshops/websites must communicate all relevant information regarding payment, delivery, complaints procedure, and warranty to consumers in a clear and easily accessible manner.

Any checkboxes for, for example, additional sales, extras, services, newsletters, etc. are not checked by default but require explicit action by the consumer.

The (prospective) member provides information about the right of withdrawal.

Use of quality mark

The quality mark may only be used on online stores/websites that have been expressly approved and whose membership has not expired or been terminated.

Each quality mark must include a link to its personal membership page for verification of (prospective) membership.

Each quality mark must be placed in a clear manner and may not be edited in such a way that the recognizability of the quality mark and color scheme is compromised. In case of doubt, permission must be requested from WebwinkelKeur.

The (prospective) membership applies to a single online store; companies with multiple online stores must have each online store certified individually. The quality mark logo may only be used on URLs that have been expressly approved by WebwinkelKeur or in (advertising) communications that are expressly related to an approved URL.

In the event of major adjustments or changes to the online store/website, a re-inspection must take place. (Prospective) members must submit a request for this to WebwinkelKeur.

Experiences must be objective. Improperly influencing these is not permitted.

Encouraging customers to remove (negative) experiences is not permitted.

Sanctions, withdrawal, and suspension

WebwinkelKeur reserves the right to issue or withdraw a quality mark at its own discretion. Depending on the severity of the violation, withdrawal may take place immediately upon discovery of the violation. For more information, please refer to the Terms and Conditions.

WebwinkelKeur reserves the right to temporarily withdraw (suspend) a quality mark at its own discretion. Depending on the severity of the violation, the suspension may take effect immediately upon discovery of the violation. In the case of less serious violations, a warning will be issued first.

In the event of withdrawal, suspension, or termination of membership, the former (prospective) member must remove the quality mark as soon as possible, but no later than 2 business days after termination.

In the event of unjustified or improper use of the quality mark, WebwinkelKeur will send an email demanding that use be discontinued immediately. The user of the quality mark must then remove the logo within 48 hours of the demand being sent, on pain of a penalty of 50 euros per day. In addition, WebwinkelKeur may claim damages in the event of unlawful use.

Severity of violations

Category 1: Critical. This category includes violations that (potentially) jeopardize the continuity of delivery and/or customer service. This category includes, but is not limited to, (suspected) fraud, repeated failure to respond to contact requests, and (suspected) negative solvency. In these cases, WebwinkelKeur may decide to immediately revoke or suspend membership.

Category 2: Serious. This category includes violations that (potentially) jeopardize the quality of delivery and/or customer service. This category includes, but is not limited to, (suspected) poor customer service, (suspected) systematic poor communication, failure to comply with legal agreements, and failure to comply with agreements with WebwinkelKeur. In these cases, WebwinkelKeur will contact the (prospective) member by email, and the member must then come up with an appropriate solution within 48 hours. If no appropriate solution is found, WebwinkelKeur may decide to immediately suspend or revoke the membership after this period has expired.

Category 3: Problematic. This category includes violations and findings that do not meet WebwinkelKeur's quality requirements. This category includes, but is not limited to, (suspected) slow customer service, contact details that are difficult or impossible to find, repeated customer complaints, failure to comply with agreements with WebwinkelKeur, and failure to pass re-inspections. In these cases, WebwinkelKeur will contact the (prospective) member by email, and the member must then come up with a suitable solution within 7 calendar days. If no suitable solution is found, WebwinkelKeur may decide to immediately suspend or revoke the membership after this period.

Category 4: Moderate. This category includes violations and findings that do not directly affect the consumer. This category includes, among other things, not making the quality mark logo clickable, placing the WebwinkelKeur logo in an incorrect manner, and findings that do not fit with the image of WebwinkelKeur. In these cases, WebwinkelKeur will contact the (prospective) member by email, and the member must then come up with an appropriate solution within 14 calendar days. If no appropriate solution is found, WebwinkelKeur may decide to immediately suspend or revoke the membership after this period has expired.

Appearance

The (prospective) Member must have a professional-looking online store. WebwinkelKeur reserves the right to refuse membership on this basis.

Disputes

The (prospective) member must make every effort to resolve complaints and disputes satisfactorily in consultation with the consumer.

The complaints procedure must be clearly communicated to the consumer by a (prospective) member.

Complaints must be dealt with as quickly as possible. The deadline for this is 5 working days. This period commences upon receipt of the complaint by a (prospective) member.

The (prospective) member agrees to a legally binding decision by the disputes committee appointed by WebwinkelKeur.

If a (prospective) member and Consumer cannot reach an agreement, the Consumer can submit their dispute to WebwinkelKeur, which will act as a mediator. If this mediation does not lead to a solution, the dispute can be submitted to the independent disputes committee: DigiDispuut.nl, the outcome of which is binding on both parties. The rules of procedure can be found on the DigiDispuut website: https://www.digidispuut.nl/procesreglement/

Use of external automated systems when responding to reviews

The (prospective) member does not use external automated systems, including applications based on artificial intelligence, to respond to reviews. Responses to reviews must be carefully crafted and tailored to the content of the consumer's experience. The use of external automated tools can undermine the transparency and reliability that WebwinkelKeur requires of its (prospective) members.

Changes to the code of conduct

Changes to the code of conduct will be communicated to members by email. This will be done no later than 14 days before the changes come into effect. If the (prospective) member does not accept the change, they must make this known within 14 days of being notified of this change. The (prospective) member is then entitled to terminate their membership.