Taking a European Company To Court?

[CharlieP]

Very briefly, I ordered some flowers from Telefleurs.fr here in the UK to be delivered in France, value 45EUROS. They didn't arrive and refuse to refund.

The company is owned by Euroflorist, a Swedish company with HQ in the Netherlands. In 2010 Euroflorist acquired Eflorist Ltd, a UK company based in Romsey,

I know it's a low sum but based on principle, am I able to issue a summons to the UK company?

Thank you!

[jaguarsuk]

Very briefly, I ordered some flowers from Telefleurs.fr here in the UK to be delivered in France, value 45EUROS. They didn't arrive and refuse to refund.

The company is owned by Euroflorist, a Swedish company with HQ in the Netherlands. In 2010 Euroflorist acquired Eflorist Ltd, a UK company based in Romsey,

I know it's a low sum but based on principle, am I able to issue a summons to the UK company?

Thank you!

Contact the card provider you paid with, inform them they didn't deliver the goods and are refusing a refund. Ask them to do a charge back of the payment.

No need for paying fees, lengthy court process and you can get on with life knowing not to use their services again.

[CharlieP]

I know you're right Tom. I will contact my bank.

[R0b]

First of all, I would forget trying to claim against the UK entity. Each company is deemed a separate legal entity so it sounds like your contract was with Telefleurs, not one of the other group companies. If you tried to issue a claim against the UK based company, I would expect them to file a robust defence and/or apply to strike out your claim with incurred costs, or if they didn't apply to strike out, they would seek their costs at trial which could be substantial - all on the basis that your contract was not with them, it was Telefleurs.

Buying goods online from an overseas business will generally be governed by the laws and jurisdiction of that particular country (or the laws set out in their terms and conditions). However, European law dictates that a consumer who concludes a contract with a business, shall be governed by the laws where the consumer is residing provided that the business:

"(a) pursues his commercial or professional activities in the country where the consumer has his habitual residence, or

(b) by any means, directs such activities to that country or to several countries including that country."

This is set out in the Rome 1 Regulations 2008 and there are certain exceptions but I won't list them all and suggest you have a read yourself. Click Here (Article 6 begins bottom of page 6).

I would add to what JaguarsUK has said and you might want to consider contacting the UK European Contact Centre (http://www.ukecc.net/index.cfm) who may be able to assist you further or least attempt to get a refund if all else fails. A chargeback however, might be the quickest and easiest way though. If your request for a chargeback fails, I suspect the ECC will perhaps direct you to the EU Online Dispute Resolution Platform (ODR for short) and the ECC has a good overview of the ODR and its process by going to the following link: http://www.ukecc.net/consumer-topics...resolution.cfm

My EU law knowledge is a little rusty so best to double check with ECC.

[CharlieP]

Many thanks rob for a very informative reply. I will see what happens with a chargeback first and if that fails will try the UKECC as you have suggested.