Temu: EU consumer protectors take action against low-cost providers
After German consumer protection organizations took action against the online marketplace Temu, other associations are now getting involved.
Temu is in further trouble with consumer protection organizations. After the operator of the online marketplace issued a cease-and-desist declaration to the Federation of German Consumer Organizations (vzbv), 17 other consumer protection organizations in Europe are now taking action in their respective countries, including their umbrella organization BEUC. The latter has lodged a complaint with the EU Commission because Temu is in breach of the Digital Services Act.
Specifically, the European Consumer Organization criticizes the fact that retailers who sell via Temu are not sufficiently traceable. As a result, it is not possible to check whether the products offered comply with EU law, according to a statement (PDF). Similar to the vzbv, the BEUC complains that the background against which Temu recommends products to its customers is not transparent. Dark patterns manipulated consumers into spending more money than they had originally planned.
Doubts about Temu's promises
Consumer advocates in Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden and Luxembourg are bringing these complaints to the attention of their competent authorities.
In Germany, the vzbv issued a warning in March of this year about the business practices and the company behind them, Whaleco Technology. This week, the company assured vzbv that it would refrain from the practices complained about in the future. A Temu spokesperson told heise online: "We attach great importance to compliance with legal regulations and the experiences of consumers in Germany. As a relative newcomer to the German market, we seek cooperation with all market participants and value their input."
Frank Düssler, spokesman for the German E-Commerce and Mail Order Association, doubts that Temu will give in. "If we assume the optimistic case and Temu actually stops these manipulative practices, then that would also mean that the platform would give up a large part of its own business model," he said, according to an MDR report. This is not the trade in goods. Temu earns money from every transaction. According to Düssler, it is about turning attention into money.
(anw)
