When shopping online (including distance purchases placed by phone or mail order) a consumer has a period of 14 days to withdraw from the sale contract without giving any reason. However, some purchases are not covered by the cooling-off period, such as the supply of goods which are liable to deteriorate or expire rapidly, the supply of sealed audio or video recordings or computer software which are unsealed after delivery, the supply of goods made to the consumer’s specifications, hotel bookings, car rental, concert tickets and other leisure services (if the contract applies to a specific date or period of performance) etc.
For the purpose of withdrawing from the contract, the consumer may either use special model withdrawal form (if available) or make any other unequivocal statement setting out his decision to withdraw from the contract. Unless the trader has offered to collect the goods himself, the consumer should send back the goods or hand them over to the trader without undue delay, in any event no later than 14 days from the day on which he has communicated his decision to withdraw from the contract to the trader. The consumer shall only bear the direct cost of returning the goods unless the trader has agreed to bear them or the trader failed to inform the consumer that the consumer has to bear them. The trader is under obligation to reimburse all payments received from the consumer no later than 14 days from the day on which he was informed of the consumer’s decision, whereby the reimbursement must be carried out using the same means of payment as the consumer used for the initial transaction, unless the consumer has expressly agreed otherwise and provided that the consumer does not incur any fees as a result of such reimbursement.