Vision Express, one of the leading sellers of optical products in the Polish market, has been fined PLN 360,000 (c. €90,000) by the Polish competition authority (UOKiK) because its online regulations breached collective consumer interests.
UOKIK ruled that the online regulations:
- did not include conditions governing electronic services (thus failing to provide consumers with reliable, true and complete information),
- included clauses that breached collective consumer interests, including some already in the register of prohibited clauses.
The clauses that were challenged:
- excluded liability for non-delivery or delays in courier services or where the client gave an incorrect address,
- required consumers to register online without asking for consent to their personal data being processed for marketing purposes,
- entitled consumers to return products within 10 days of purchase, but only in its original and intact packaging,
- excluded liability for reimbursing delivery costs,
- allowed 21 days for making reimbursements (instead of 14 as permitted by law).
According to UOKiK’s announcement, the prohibited clauses have already been removed from Vision Express’s online regulations.
