Case law

  • Case Details
    • National ID: Decision nr DDK 1/2009
    • Member State: Poland
    • Common Name:link
    • Decision type: Administrative decision, first degree
    • Decision date: 28/04/2009
    • Court: The Office of the Competition and Consumer Protection in Warsaw
    • Subject:
    • Plaintiff: The President of the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection
    • Defendant: Media Markt Polska sp. z o.o. (Warsaw)
    • Keywords: after-sales service, average consumer, complaints, misleading actions, professional diligence
  • Directive Articles
    Unfair Commercial Practices Directive, Chapter 2, Article 5, 2. Unfair Commercial Practices Directive, Chapter 2, Section 1, Article 6, 1.
  • Headnote
    It is contrary to the requirements of professional diligence and the code of conduct regarding complaint handling to obstruct a consumer in executing his rights, by requiring a consumer who returns a product within six months due to non-conformity, to prove the non-conformity at the moment the product was received.
  • Facts
    The defendant sells a wide variety of products to consumers, such as television and image systems, sound systems, cameras, DVD films, music, CD, computer games, computers and cell phones.

    The object of the proceedings initiated by the President of the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection was the trader’s complaint handling procedure. The trader obstructed the consumers in executing their rights resulting from the non-conformity of the goods with the agreement, by rejecting complaints lodged by consumers within six months of the reception of the good, when the consumer could not prove the non-conformity of the goods at the moment they were received.
  • Legal issue
    The President of the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection considered the defendant's practice to be contrary to the requirements of professional diligence and code of conduct regarding complaint handling. The President also considered that such commercial practice obstructs the execution of the consumer's rights.
  • Decision

    Is it an unfair commercial practice to obstruct a consumer in executing his rights, by requiring a consumer who returns a product within six months due to non-conformity with the agreement, to prove the non-conformity at the moment the product was received?

    URL: http://decyzje.uokik.gov.pl/dec_prez.nsf/0/EDE390387B75BACAC12575C1004B81DA/$file/Media%20Markt%2COlsztyn%20-%20projekt%20decyzji%20-%2028.04.09%20-%20final%20II%20-%20_druk_%20usuni_352te%20dane%20finansowe.pdf

    Full text: Full text

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  • Result
    The practice of the trader was found to be unfair. A financial penalty of PLN 748.982,44 (about 188.000 EUR) was imposed.