Temu must respect consumer protection laws, says EU

Temu has been accused of a number of infringements on its platform against European Union (EU) consumer law.

The Consumer Protection Cooperation (CPC) Network of national consumer authorities and the European Commission teamed up for a coordinated ongoing investigation into Temu and its practices. The investigation covers a range of misleading and “unduly influences” on consumers’ purchasing decisions, and looks at the information obligations that need to be met by an online marketplace.

The CPC Network is made up of the national consumer authorities of the 27 EU Member States, Norway, and Iceland.

The problems the investigation found cover almost every aspect of misleading advertising one can think of:

• Fake discounts. Telling buyers that items are offered with a discount when in reality the price is the same or even higher than before.
• Pressure selling. Claiming that items are in short supply or need to be purchased before a deadline.
• Forced gamification. Forcing consumers to play “spin the fortune wheel” before accessing the platform without making them aware of the conditions attached to the use of claiming the rewards in the game.
• Missing and misleading information. Giving incomplete and even incorrect information about consumers’ legal rights to return goods and receive refunds. Temu also fails to tell customers up front that they need to reach a minimum value before they can complete their purchase.
• Fake reviews. Hosting suspected unauthentic reviews, and providing inadequate information about how Temu ensures the authenticity of reviews published on its website.
• Hidden contact details. Deliberately making it hard for customers to contact Temu for questions and complaints.

The CPC Network made objections to the fact that Temu does not provide information on whether the seller is a trader or not, and would also like to ensure that any environmental claims are accurate and substantiated.

Temu has one month to reply with a proposal to address the identified issues. Should the company fail to do so, national authorities can take enforcement measures to ensure compliance. These measures can be fines based on Temu’s annual turnover in the Member States concerned.

Temu responded:

“Although we have gained popularity with many consumers in a relatively short time, we are still a very young platform — less than two years in the EU — and are actively learning and adapting to local requirements.”

This is not the only problem Temu is facing at the moment. In June, we reported that the Chinese online shopping giant is facing a lawsuit filed by the State of Arkansas Attorney General, alleging that the retailer’s mobile app spies on users.

In September, a cybercriminal claimed to be selling a stolen database containing 87 million records of customer information. Temu denied it suffered a data breach, a statement supported by other circumstances, but these claims have a tendency to linger on.

And back in February, the trade association Toy Industries of Europe released a report warning that none of the 19 toys it bought on Temu.com complied with EU legislation. After sending the toys to a laboratory for testing, the organization claimed that many of them posed significant risks for children.

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