THE BOTTOM LINE
- Your “Buy Button” Is a Contract: Your e-commerce checkout button must explicitly state that clicking it creates a payment obligation (e.g., “Order and Pay”). If it doesn’t, a court can void the entire sale, leaving you unable to collect payment.
- Courts Are Proactively Checking: Dutch courts are now actively reviewing e-commerce websites for compliance with EU consumer law, even in simple debt collection cases where the consumer doesn’t defend themselves. Non-compliance can lead to a complete dismissal of your claim.
- Information Is Non-Negotiable: Failing to provide all required pre-contractual information (especially on the right of withdrawal) on a durable medium like a PDF can also invalidate the sale or extend the customer’s return period to a full year.
THE DETAILS
In what should have been a straightforward debt collection case, a Dutch webshop sued a customer for an unpaid invoice. The customer did not appear in court, paving the way for a default judgment. However, the District Court of Overijssel took a surprising and significant step. Acting on its own initiative, the court scrutinized the webshop’s entire online ordering process for compliance with consumer protection laws derived from the EU Consumer Rights Directive. The court’s analysis serves as a critical warning for any company selling to consumers online in the EU.
The core of the issue was the webshop’s final order button. Under European law, the button or similar function used to finalize an order must be labeled with an unambiguous formulation indicating that the consumer is entering into a payment obligation. Phrases like “Order and Pay,” “Buy Now,” or “Confirm Purchase” are compliant. The court found the webshop’s button was not sufficiently clear. This failure, seemingly minor, rendered the entire sales agreement voidable. The judge then proceeded to annul the contract, meaning no legal agreement ever existed, and the webshop had no legal basis to claim payment from the consumer.
Further compounding the webshop’s problems, the court found it had also failed in its information obligations. The business did not provide the consumer with all legally required pre-contractual information, such as details on the 14-day right of withdrawal, on a durable medium (for example, in a PDF attachment to the confirmation email). A simple link to a webpage with the terms and conditions is not sufficient. The court noted that this failure alone would have been grounds for severe sanctions, such as extending the consumer’s right to return the product for up to twelve months. This case is a stark reminder that for online businesses, technical legal compliance isn’t just a detail—it’s the foundation of every single sale.
SOURCE
Source: Rechtbank Overijssel (District Court of Overijssel)
