Formerly bol.com, and now simply renamed Bol, Amazon’s competing brand is caught in turmoil and must quickly change its tune.
The Belgian Aleksandra did not expect this when she dropped off her 1,000 euro parcel at a PostNL point: “I received a message informing me that the reimbursement was refused…”
It was the Supreme Court of the Netherlands which decided this question, which was surprising to say the least, since before that, no one had crawled into this tiny mouse hole… We’ll explain.
It is the Dutch newspapers De Telegraaf and Nos which report this affair. A customer placed an order on Bol.com by clicking on the “place order” button. He had chosen to pay after receiving the items, but did not respect his payment commitment and ultimately did not pay for his purchase.
Logically, Bol took legal action against this customer and against all expectations, the brand lost. The reason given may be surprising. “The order button on Bol.com was not clear enough for consumers. The Supreme Court ruled in favor of the client. According to the highest judicial authority, buttons containing texts such as “order”, “place order” or “complete order” do not indicate clearly enough that the consumer has entered into a payment obligation. »
And therefore, according to this Supreme Court judgment, purchases made through such buttons can be canceled. The consequences could be disastrous for his company, which has recently been singled out several times for certain minor problems.
This case sets a precedent. Bol.com announced that it has already changed the order button in 2022 to display “order and pay”. The company is reviewing the ruling and does not yet know what the possible repercussions will be.
