Consumers almost always let a claim go the moment the counterparty sits abroad. That is precisely what those parties count on. Within the European Union the consumer position is in fact strong.
Within the European Union a consumer does not have to go to the seller's country. Two regulations settle that.
In practice this means a demand to a German or French retailer can rest on Dutch consumer law, and that the threat of proceedings in the Netherlands is real. For smaller amounts there is also the European Small Claims Procedure, intended for cross-border matters up to five thousand euros, and the European Order for Payment Procedure for uncontested claims.
A demand in German, citing the law the recipient recognises, reaches the right department. The same letter in Dutch reaches nobody. We correspond in Dutch, English, German and French, and engage a translator for other languages.
Germany is by far the largest source of files outside the Netherlands. German law shares the same European foundation: a fourteen-day right of withdrawal and a fourteen-day refund period, set out in the Burgerliches Gesetzbuch. German businesses respond notably well to a formal notice of default with a concrete deadline, provided it is written in German. A Mahnung with a Fristsetzung is a familiar instrument there and is taken seriously.
Belgium applies the same European consumer protection, laid down in the Code of Economic Law. For Dutch consumers this is the simplest cross-border route: no language barrier, the same currency, and a regulator that actively takes up complaints about online sales. We report persistent parties to the competent inspectorate.
The Code de la consommation provides the same fourteen-day right of withdrawal and an obligation to deliver on time. French parties rarely respond to correspondence in Dutch or English, and almost always do respond to a mise en demeure in French. We send those in French as standard.
Behind many cheap retailers targeting the Netherlands sits a Polish entity or a Polish warehouse. Poland implements European consumer protection in its national consumer rights act, with the same fourteen-day period. The party is usually readily traceable in the Polish commercial register, which makes the claim considerably stronger than the website would suggest.
Outside the European Union the European foundation falls away and the route changes. The United States has no federal fourteen-day right of withdrawal. The Federal Trade Commission's Mail, Internet, or Telephone Order Merchandise Rule does apply, obliging the seller to ship within the time promised or, failing that, within thirty days, and otherwise to give the customer the choice between waiting and a refund.
In practice the payment route matters more there than the legal one. On a credit card payment a chargeback is almost always the fastest way. In addition we report to the consumer division of the competent state attorney general, which has effect with larger parties.
Consumer protection in Canada is regulated at provincial level. Several provinces provide a rule entitling the consumer to cancel the contract if the goods are not delivered within thirty days of the promised date. We establish per case which provincial statute applies and write to the party on that basis, alongside the payment route.
With the Australian Consumer Law, Australia has one of the stronger regimes outside Europe. The act provides mandatory consumer guarantees: goods must be of acceptable quality and match their description, and those guarantees cannot be excluded by contract. Where a failure is major, the buyer is entitled to a refund at their own election. Enforcement runs through the ACCC and the state consumer authorities, where we file reports.
We also take on files against parties outside these seven countries. What we establish first is whether a route exists that could yield anything: a traceable entity, a payment service provider that can be addressed, or a regulator that handles complaints. If there is none, we say so and do not take the case. That applies in particular to retailers operated from countries with no point of attachment, where a claim is not collectable in practice.
The European Consumer Centre mediates free of charge in cross-border disputes within the European Union, Norway and Iceland. That route is free but not enforceable: the centre mediates and cannot bring a claim. We say as much, that it is a perfectly good first step, and we refer to it whenever we think it will work faster than our own route.
That rarely makes a case hopeless and often only makes it different. Submit it and we will say which route works.