In November last year, Sigrid Normann sent a hair straightener in return to the online store Moderneliv.no. Although the online store said she would get her money back, it never appeared in her account again. On 23 March, she contacted the Norwegian Consumer Protection Authority to get help with her case. But the Norwegian Consumer Protection Agency cannot help. When the company does not respond, the Norwegian Consumer Protection Agency does not have much they can do. They asked Normann to complain to the Consumer Complaints Committee to get a legally binding decision. The processing time in this selection is currently approximately one year. This is part of the response of the Norwegian Consumer Protection Authority to Sigrid Normann, where they explain that due to a lack of feedback from one party, they will not be able to process the case. Photo: Skjermdump After news featured the online store Moderneliv in February, the store got new owners and changed its name to Alvastores. In August, we mentioned Alvastores, which has now closed the domain. Hundreds of businesses at the same address on December 9, Normann could see that her return had been delivered. Nevertheless, the online store claimed that they had never received this. The months passed, and she took the matter on to the Norwegian Consumer Protection Authority. – I would probably have given up the fight a long time ago if it hadn’t been for my partner pushing me, and because I see them doing this with a large proportion of their customers, says Normann. SEEK HELP: Sigrid Normann contacted the Danish Consumer Protection Agency in the hope of getting her money back from Moderneliv. Photo: private The Norwegian Consumer Protection Authority contacted the online store, which claimed that they had new owners, and said that the old owners had to be contacted. But the old owners are completely impossible to get in touch with. Moderneliv.no was owned by Sami Invest LLC, an American company registered at the address 1309 Coffeen Avenue STE 1200, Sheridan in Wyoming in the USA. Hundreds of companies are registered here, and a quick Google search of the address yields over 90,000 hits. Hoping for consequences As the Consumer Protection Authority got nowhere, Normann has decided to send a complaint to the Consumer Committee. – But if it is not taken further from there, I guess I have no other choice but to close the case. She finds it terrifying that online stores can go on like this, and is annoyed by the thought of them getting away with it. – I want no one to fall into the same “trap” as me. I hope those behind it get a taste of the consequences of running an online store in that way. She encourages everyone who is going to shop online to be careful to check carefully and be critical. Normann wishes there was a supervisory body with the purpose of approving various online shops. – It would have been very pleasant as a customer to be able to browse through a database to check that the online store has been approved with, for example, a “Trygg-handel” label. No overview of foreign owners To find out whether an online store is run by Norwegian actors, you can look it up in the Brønnøysund registers. All Norwegian businesses are associated with an organization number so that you can find the person responsible in the business. – We have no record of foreign online store players, says Frode Nordfjellmark, Press Officer at the Brønnøysund registers. – We also have no overview of Norwegian persons’ ownership interests abroad. Frode Nordfjellmark in the Brønnøysund registers. Photo: Don’t be negative photo Nordfjellmark says that a register of real rights holders is planned. This will be a measure to counter money laundering, terrorist financing and financial crime. – The purpose of the register is to provide an overview of who actually controls businesses in Norway. This is the response of the Consumer Protection Authority: Photo: Dag Jensen / Consumer Protection Authority Mats Bjønnes is deputy director in the supervision department of the Consumer Protection Authority. He says that they have no statistics on how many mediation cases involve foreign actors, or how often cases are closed due to a lack of cooperation with the other party. – Lack of answers or lack of follow-up by consumers who contact customer service can be a breach of the Marketing Act’s rules on unfair trading practices. – Does the Consumer Protection Authority have any real power to help? – If the Norwegian Consumer Protection Authority takes up a case, we can ask the operator to change or ban a practice. We also have the opportunity to make decisions with financial sanctions, both against a company, but also for any accomplices in the event of an offence. This could be, for example, a general manager or similar. – How easy/difficult is it to hold foreign business actors accountable versus Norwegian actors? – In order for the Consumer Protection Authority to have authority, the marketing must be aimed at Norwegian consumers. Not all actors that Norwegian consumers buy from are aimed at Norwegian consumers in the sense of the Marketing Act. Through cooperation with other supervisory authorities in the EU/EEA, we can also ask other authorities to take up a case, for example where a company is established, where we consider that there is a breach of common European consumer protection rules. He says that any quality assurance of online shops will be a political matter. – Whether there should be a supervisory body that will approve and ensure the quality of online shops becomes a political question. With regard to the question of an overview of unsafe shops, the Norwegian Consumer Protection Authority previously had a list of actors that we considered to be unscrupulous. However, we saw that many consumers then believed that all other players were safe to shop from. Thus, such a list did not become the help to consumers that it was intended to be. Because it is so easy to create new online stores, he says it will be practically impossible to enforce such a measure. That is why he has some advice for consumers before they buy things online: Investigate the operator you are considering buying from. Does the online store have an organization number, where is the business established and is there contact information. Bad language or very reasonable prices compared to what the goods are normally sold for can also be characteristics of a rogue operator. Check other reviews of an online store. Furthermore, consumers should use credit cards when paying in advance. If the goods are not delivered or you receive fake brands when you think you have ordered genuine goods, you may be entitled to a refund from the bank. In addition to complaining to the seller, it is therefore important that you also contact your bank.
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Hundreds of companies registered at the address – no wonder the Norwegian Consumer Protection Authority does not get an answer – news Nordland
