• The online duka.com store automatically adds non-ordered products to the purchaser’s cart.
• Returning the undesired purchased product means the necessity to devote time and pay for the parcel.
• President of UOKiK has charged Duka International with infringement of collective interests of consumers which is subject to a fine in the amount equal to up to 10% of revenue.

Duka is a popular-in-Poland business entity trading in household appliances and interior decors in traditional stores and via duka.com e-store.

The President of UOKiK has charged Duka with infringing the collective interests of consumers. Shoppers of duka.com online store might have had products automatically added to carts without their previous consent. In order to avoid the undesired goods, the shoppers were the ones to remove them. While placing an order, consumers might have not seen an additional item and they might have done the unintended shopping. If their parcel contained the undesired product, they could either accept it or devote their time and bear the costs of sending a parcel to return the goods.

- An entrepreneur may not take decisions instead of consumers or try to affect their orders by automatic adding products to the cart in the online store. As this may result in buying some unwanted items whose return will cause burdensomeness on the part of consumers and will involve bearing additional costs of sending the parcel - says Tomasz Chróstny, President of UOKiK.

The practice used by duka.com may constitute the so-called dark patterns, that is unfair use of the knowledge on consumers’ behaviour on the Internet with the intention of affecting their purchasing decisions.

Consumer, are buying goods on-line? Beware of manipulations used by unfair e-stores. Below you will find some of them:

• Adding a thematically-linked product to the cart, for example, at a promotional price, or an insurance service.
• Additional, unannounced fees occurring at the last stage of placing your order, the so-called drip pricing.
• Illusive interfaces - for example, providing the order-placing button before the consumer has read the information on all fees.
• False time counters - extorting artificial pressure.
• Never-ending promotions - suggesting that the time of some attractive price promotions is limited while they never come to an end.

• Hiding important information on the product, service or transaction rules.

Consumer Support:

Phone: 801 440 220 or 222 66 76 76 – consumer helpline
E-mail: porady@dlakonsumentow.pl
Consumer Ombudsmen – in your town or district

Additional information for the media:

UOKiK Press Office
pl. Powstańców Warszawy 1, 00-950 Warszawa, Poland
Phone: 22 55 60 246
Email: biuroprasowe@uokik.gov.pl
Twitter: @UOKiKgovPL
You can also follow us on Instagram: @uokikgovpl