Any experience of this?
A new report has outlined that Irish consumers face discrimination due to nationality and place of residence when purchasing goods and services from other EU countries.
The report looks at the implementation of EU consumer law and the use of geo-blocking to prevent Irish consumers accessing services in other countries, in particular while online shopping.
Geo-blocking prevents users in one country being able to use a company’s website in another EU country.
The report titled: “Do Invisible Borders Still Restrict Consumer Access to Services in the EU?” was published by the European Consumer Centre and found that consumers within the Republic still face issues like the refusal to deliver, higher prices and longer waiting times.
The study outlined a case where an Irish consumer placed an order for a dress with a UK-based online shop. The same dress was available on the Irish version of the website but at a higher price (€155 as opposed to £95). The consumer gave a UK address for delivery, but was told she would need to pay €155 as she was using an Irish credit card and clearly was residing in Ireland.
The case was referred to the competent Trading Standards office in the UK. The latter refused to look into the matter arguing the Services Directive was not applicable in the case of online purchase of goods.
In the wake of the report, the EU will likely look at the practice as geo-blocking breaks EU single market rules that allows companies to trade freely across borders.
Article 20.2 of the EU Services Directive sets out the principle of non-discrimination on the basis of nationality and place of residence.
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