How to buy shoes online safely – Know your rights as a consumer!

Today on the EscapeShoes blog, we put fashion and trends a little bit on the side to talk about something that’s very important to take into consideration when you make a purchase, not only of shoes, but also of any other product, either online or not. Do you know what your consumer rights are? Read this post so that you can make your purchase safely!

At EscapeShoes, we make a point of referring that we offer a Premium service, but what do we mean with this? Well, in addition of assuring that we offer you a better service, either as regards to the shipping conditions, clarification of doubts and to the quality of each item, we also believe that’s important that each client that wants to buy shoes at our online store has confidence in our service. I.e. that their consumer rights are well guaranteed. And what rights are these? That’s something that we’ll explain in more detail in today’s post.

In fact, we consider that consumer rights are a subject that everyone should take into account, not only when you place an order at EscapeShoes, but every time you want to make a purchase or use a service. That’s the only way you can guarantee that you’re 100% satisfied.

We’d also like to point out that, since these rights are given to us by Law, it’s possible that there’re slight differences between countries. So, we’ll only mention the basic rights that everyone should have, no matter where they live. Hence, today on the EscapeShoes blog, we’ll base this post on the rights recognized by the consumer protection directives of the European Union, which you’ll be able to read more attentively on their website here. So, the consumer rights that we’ll touch upon are:

– Right to quality of the product or service

– Right to information about the purchase

– Right to information about the product or service

– Right to delivery of items

– Right to exchange or refund

•          Right to quality of the product or service

This is a point that unfortunately has more possibilities of being ignored by online stores, since it’s impossible to see the product with your very own eyes before shipping. However, each consumer has the right to receive the product or the service that corresponds to his or her expectations. Therefore, if it doesn’t, it’s the duty of the seller to resolve the situation and to satisfy the customer’s expectations.

•          Right to information about the purchase

The seller of any item or service, like an online store, has the duty to inform the consumer in a clear and explicit way about, mainly, how a purchase is done, the identity of the seller, mostly name, address and phone number (this is also how you can verify the legitimacy of the store), methods of payment and delivery deadlines. At EscapeShoes, for example, we have a FAQ page, so that you can clarify any doubt. And, of course, if you’ve any further question, our customer support is always willing to help.

•          Right to information about the product or service

The consumer has every right to be well informed about the product or the service that they want to acquire. In case of an online store like EscapeShoes, it’s important that each item has a complete and instructive description. For example, it should have information about the price, materials and how it should be used, especially regarding care products. And the seller’s required to give truthful and complete information to the consumer.

•          Right to delivery of items

It’s another point that perhaps may seem obvious to you, but unfortunately one that’s usually not fulfilled by dishonest stores. However, it’s the responsibility of the seller to assure that the delivery of the purchased items is done within the designated deadline and, if there’s not fixed deadline, the seller has up to 30 days after the purchase. If the client doesn’t receive the product within the indicated deadline, he or she has every right to ask for a refund.

•          Right to exchange or refund

This is probably the question that is most asked when making a purchase. If I’m not happy with the product, can I return it and exchange it for another or ask for a refund? In most cases, yes! To be on the safe side, it’s always better to ask the store directly about if it accepts exchanges and returns and what are its conditions. If so, by law, an online store offers you 15 days to make the exchange, but at EscapeShoes, we give 15 extra days, i.e. 30 days. And if you’re a Premium customer, you’ve 100 days!

As mentioned before, these are just some of the basic rights that you have as a consumer, but you should consult your Consumer Protection Association so that you’ve all the information about your rights. It’s also the place you should go to in case there’s ever a time when you believe that your rights are not being correctly respected. In addition of informing you about your rights, these Consumer Protection Associations help you to resolve your problems so that you can exercise these rights.

We hope that today’s post was useful to you, but if you want to know more information about how to make a purchase the safest way possible, you can also read our previous post with 10 practical tips to take into consideration when you place an online order!