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#NCW20

National Consumer Week Monday 15 November to Sunday 22 November 2020

The National Trading Standards eCrime Team is supporting National Consumer Week 2020, the campaign run by Citizens Advice to help consumers with their consumer rights.

The team's help is part of a bigger effort by Trading Standards Services and Citizens Advice, as more consumers than ever before are expected to shop online during lockdown, and shop early for Christmas this ‘Black Friday’ and ‘Cyber Monday’.

According to research done by Citizens Advice for National Consumer week, 87% of us in the UK now shop for products and services online, spending around £2 billion a week. Just over half of people (51%) feel more reliant on having goods delivered. Citizens Advice also report that, during the first lockdown, that online shopping problems almost doubled earlier this year compared to the same period last year.

Citizens Advice also say that as many 33% of consumers don't know their consumer rights are different when shopping online, compared to shopping in a store. In fact, in many cases, consumer's rights are stronger when buying online than when buying offline, and they usually have enhanced rights when it comes to returning online goods. Finally, a consumer's rights can change depending on whether the they buy from a trader or private seller.

People also have problems when seeking redress. This ranges from struggling to get refunds to problems when returning goods bought online.

One of the biggest problems faced was late delivery, with over 30% of people facing delays. Nearly 18% of those who experienced parcel problems, suffered financial loss.

So this year's National Consumer Week campaign stresses:

  • how important it is for consumers to know their rights
  • how to avoid bad practice when shopping online, and
  • how to seek redress in cases where something has gone wrong

Learn more about your online shopping rights and National Consumer Week 2020 from the Citizens Advice website: