Online orders never received

Q: About a month ago I ordered some items online but apart from a confirmation of my order, I never heard from the company. The goods ordered have not been delivered. When I checked about the process of my order from the company website, it only said the order was being processed. What are my rights in this situation?

A: The first thing you should do is have a look at the terms and conditions of your order and check whether the seller has specified anywhere when the delivery will be carried out.

If such a date was specified, the Distance Selling Regulations require retailers to ship orders within the promised timeframe. If, on the other hand, the order did not specify when the delivery will take place, by law you should receive the products ordered within 30 days after the order has been placed.

If the company is unable to meet this timeline, it must notify you and give you the opportunity to delay or cancel your order and receive a full refund of what you paid. In such cases, the law also specifies that, as consumers, we have the legal right to receive our money within 30 days of cancelling the order.

These rights can be exercised by, first of all, contacting the retailer, informing him how you would like the problem with the delivery to be solved. If the allotted time for delivery has expired and you wish to cancel the order, ask the retailer for a full refund.

If these requests are not satisfactorily met by the retailer, my advice is to call the Consumer and Competition Department on 8007 4400 and lodge a complaint. If, however, the trader does not operate locally, but operates from an EU member country, you should file a complaint with the European Consumer Centre Malta, by calling 2122 1901 or e-mailing ecc.malta@gov.mt.