NordenBladet – A 20-year-old customer, referred to as “Emilie” to protect her identity, purchased a blow dryer hairbrush from the online store Moderneliv.no. She returned the brush for being of poor quality and overpriced at 2499 NOK. When Emilie wrote a negative review of the store on Trustpilot, the company demanded that she pay for the product as a “punishment” for her review, despite already having refunded her, NRK.no reports.
According to Nora Wennberg Gløersen, a consumer lawyer from the Consumer Council (Forbrukerrådet), a consumer is entitled to a refund if they have returned the product properly, and companies cannot impose unreasonable conditions on the refund. Consumers are free to share positive and negative experiences on platforms such as Trustpilot without jeopardizing their rights under the sales agreement and consumer protection laws.
Moderneliv demanded that Emilie delete her negative review before it would process her refund, which she agreed to do. However, she later published a new, longer review warning other potential customers about Moderneliv’s unscrupulous behavior. In response, the company emailed Emilie that they had placed a new order on her behalf without her consent, and would bill her for the product since she had violated their agreement by writing a new review.
Emilie felt helpless and frustrated by the situation, and eventually acquiesced to Moderneliv’s demand to delete her second review to cancel the invoice. According to Gløersen, Moderneliv had no right to order products in Emilie’s name without her permission.
This case highlights the importance of consumer rights and the need for companies to act in good faith towards their customers. While companies may not like negative reviews, they cannot use them as a basis for punishing customers. Consumers should feel free to express their opinions and experiences without fear of retribution.
Featured image: Excerpt from the Norwegian online store Moderneliv (NordenBladet)