Has there ever been any discussion about replication of anything like the EU distance selling regulations in Australia?
One of the key rights in the EU distance selling regulations is the right to cancel / change your mind. You still have to pay return postage but can return most goods (except perishable, hygiene, copyable media). This right reflects the fact that, unlike in a store, when buying online you don’t see what you are getting until it arrives.
I was unaware of this, but for those who are interested, a summary can be found here:
The European Directive 97/7/EC is found here:
https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/ALL/?uri=CELEX:31997L0007
I only just realised that Kogan does not offer change of mind returns. Not buying from them again!
Amazon has a very generous return policy (30 days normally and often more over Xmas) and will often refund return shipping costs.
A lot of business don’t allow a change of mind, especially those which would be unable to on sell the potentially used, opened products or those products which could have been damaged through transit. This included electronics/appliances, some clothing (swimwear/underwear), food, bedding etc.
It is also legal to do so, see:
I realise it is legal to do so here. It is not legal to refuse change of mind refunds for most online purchases in Europe. Kogan’s policy seems quite harsh. What harm is there to accept unopened unused items? Kogan will struggle to compete with Amazon’s generous return policy in the long term (assuming Amazon starts increasing its product range).
Here is Amazon’s change of mind policy.
https://www.amazon.com.au/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=201819200
It is worth noting that it only covers ‘most’ items sold on their platform. It would be interesting to know if the items sold by Kogan are accepted by Amazon under their change of mind policy, of if these items are also exceptions.
The standard product list exceptions to the Amazon change of mind policy can be found here:
https://www.amazon.com.au/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=201819190
Just doing a quick search, Kogan does have a 14 day Change of Mind policy on Kogan exclusive brands. The policy can be found here:
It’s an interesting one @samwardill, I’ve flagged it with our campaigns team for consideration.
