Deluge of complaints about online shopping

The pandemic may have boosted the country’s e-commerce industry, but it has also sparked fraud.

The data of the Consumer Ombudsman are revealing, according to which there was:

Increase of reports/cases of e-commerce by 113.5% compared to 2019.
Launch of citizens’ reports on problems in the postal services sector by 133.3%.
45% of 2020 reports against postal companies concern problems in the delivery of postal items (delays).
The sectors with the most reports, as a percentage of the total number of reports submitted to the Authority, are the sector of consumer goods – retail (75%) and leisure services (72.8%), while there was also a significant increase in reports on education services (54.2%) and transport services (35.1%).

The sectors with the most reports, as a percentage of the total reports submitted to the Authority, are consumer goods (37%), electronic communications – postal services (26.3%), financial services (12.8%) and energy – water (9.3%).

The problems

The main issues that concerned the citizens in 2020 in relation to e-shopping, include inaccurate or misleading information about the availability of products, as well as the non-delivery of ordered goods without withholding money.

A common problem was the withholding of money that had been prepaid by consumers during their orders, while there were many complaints about a complete lack of response to requests to inform consumers about the progress of their transactions.

Other sectors, such as electronic communications or the postal services, also saw deficiencies due to the sharp increase in demand.