• The President of UOKiK imposed a fine of over PLN 1.6 million on Poczta Kwiatowa for applying a prohibited contractual clause.
• Poczta Kwiatowa has failed to guarantee timely delivery of flowers or gifts on days of special demand for its services - Grandmother's Day, Grandfather's Day, Valentine's Day, Women's Day, Mother's Day, and Father's Day.
• In its marketing communications, Poczta Kwiatowa encouraged customers to place orders for holidays when it could not guarantee timely service delivery.

Tomorrow will be Grandmother's Day, the day after tomorrow - Grandfather's Day, and Valentine's Day is coming soon... On these special days many consumers use Poczta Kwiatowa's services, wishing to make their loved ones happy. Timely delivery of gifts is the single most important requirement for proper order delivery. Disappointed consumers reported, either directly to UOKiK or on-line, their disappointment - their parcels ordered via Poczta Kwiatowa did not reach their addressees or were not delivered on time.

Poczta Kwiatowa used a provision in the appendix to the Terms and Conditions “Dates and conditions of delivery”, in which it made it clear that it did not guarantee delivery on Grandmother's Day, Grandfather's Day, Valentine's Day, Women's Day, Mother's Day, Father's Day. On these popular holidays for consumers, the timely service delivery was crucial. By including this provision, the company sought to avoid liability for non-performance and it was intended as a safeguard for the company in the event of a claim.

- The company may not exempt itself from liability for non-delivery or improper delivery of the service. As a professional company that has been operating in Poland for more than 20 years, it should be well prepared for holidays such as Grandmother's Day, Grandfather's Day, Valentine's Day, Women's Day, Mother's Day or Father's Day, when the demand for the delivery of flowers or gifts soars. It is of particular importance to customers that the delivery reaches the addressee on a specific day, especially if the entrepreneur encourages this. If Poczta Kwiatowa is unable to fulfil orders on time, it should either cut down on accepting them or inform customers that flowers cannot be delivered on time. Then consumers could look for another company or another way to make their loved ones happy – Tomasz Chróstny, the President of the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection, stresses.

In its marketing communications, Poczta Kwiatowa promoted its services and encouraged customers to place orders for the delivery of gifts on the days of important festive holidays. However, despite using the slogans “You still have time!” or “Show you love”, in the appendix to the terms and conditions, the company stipulated that there was no guarantee of timely delivery.

- I have decided to impose a fine of more than PLN 1.6 million on Poczta Kwiatowa. For six years, the trader has been using a prohibited clause in order to indemnify itself against liability for non-delivery of service, which infringes the consumers' interests. In addition to the economic consequences, consumers were exposed to emotional damage, concerning relationships with loved ones – Tomasz Chróstny, the President of UOKiK, comments.

The President of UOKiK found unlawful the use by Poczta Kwiatowa of the clause in the appendix to the Terms and Conditions: “Delivery on Grandmother's Day, Grandfather's Day, Valentine's Day, Women's Day, Mother's Day, Father's Day. We make every effort to deliver flowers within the selected time period, however, we are not able to guarantee this in every case – despite observing the standard of due diligence required of a professional – due to the large number of orders being carried out on these days.”

The President of UOKiK imposed a fine of PLN 1,610,712 on Poczta Kwiatowa for persistent use of a template contract provision infringing the consumers' interests.

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