Petition Distance Selling Regulations Review

The Distance Selling Regulations were set up in 2000, to protect consumers when they shop online or enter into other contracts at a distance from the supplier. The rationale for giving consumers special protection in such deals is that the consumer does not have the benefit of meeting face-to-face with the supplier and inspecting the goods or services offered for sale. They are being exploited time and time again by people buying and trying goods, usually high value goods like cameras, computing and home electrical goods, then returning them for refunds, which is not something that would be allowed on the high street. Once the goods have been opened and returned they are unable to be sold as new, so the best they can hope for is to sell them as second hand, usually at a heavy loss. The world of e-commerce is a very different place to what it was when the regulations were introduced 13 years ago and as such these laws require reviewing, to protect the seller as well as the buyer.