Trade
Advertising with “buy on account” – ECJ strengthens transparency
How clear must it be recognizable that an online purchase is only possible after checking creditworthiness? The highest European court now judged this – but the legal dispute continues.
In the legal dispute over advertising for “buying on account”, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) strengthened the rights of consumers. The procedure deals with the question of how prominently online retailers have to indicate an examination of creditworthiness if they advertise with a “convenient purchase on account”.
According to EU law, there are particularly high requirements for transparency for “offers for sales promotion”. For example, it must be clearly recognizable under which conditions consumers can use. The judges in Luxembourg have now comprehensively interpret this EU law, so that in addition to special offers, an offered purchase could also be on account. Finally, however, the Federal Court of Justice (BGH) must decide on the case.
Bonprix advertised with “comfortable purchase on account”
Specifically, it was about an advertising statement by the fashion retailer Bonprix, which belongs to the Otto Group. The Hamburg Consumer Center complained as misleading his offer of “comfortable purchase on account” because it is not clear that the creditworthiness was yet being examined. The case went before the BGH, which asked the ECJ for clarification.
“We are pleased that the European Court of Justice has classified the purchase on account as an offer to promote sales and are now confident that the Federal Court of Justice will also decide on this matter in the interests of consumers,” says Julia Rehberg from the Hamburg Consumer Center. At first there was no statement from Bonprix.
dpa
Source: Stern
