Online retailers to drop delivery charges for refunds

Shoppers can claim cost of delivery if they choose to return goods

Online shoppers should only pay the cost of returning goods and not receiving when they're unhappy with the product

Online retailers must not charge consumers delivery costs for items they return within seven days. They must only charge the cost of returning the goods and no other cost, according to the Court of Justice of the European Union’s (CJEU) new directive.

The UK's Distance Selling Regulations govern this right and consumer regulator the Office of Fair Trading has previously ruled that refunds must include the cost of postage or delivery of goods.

However, the CJEU ruled contrary to that in a case involving a €4.95 (£4.33) delivery charge by German retailer Heinrich Heine, according to legal advice web site Out-law.com.

The case was brought by a consumer rights group, and was referred to the CJEU. Heinrich Heine argued that German law does not grant the consumer the right to a refund of the delivery charges, but the German Federal Court said that if German law does refuse this right, it may be in conflict with EU law and would have to be changed.