California's Balls of Kryptonite claimed to participate in the EU/US 'safe harbour' programme, in which accredited US companies treat EU customers' details in compliance with EU data protection laws. It was not a participant in that scheme, US consumer regulator the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) said.
The company operated sites at bestpricedbrands.co.uk and bitesizedeals.co.uk, where they sold UK consumers goods including consumer electronics products. The FTC's complaint about the company says that its behaviour was misleading.
"Due in part to [the company's] deceptive use of websites ending in '.uk', the complaint alleges that consumers in the United Kingdom were duped into purchasing goods that carried no manufacturer warranties, were misled about their rights to return or exchange goods under U.K. regulations, were denied the option of cancelling orders, and were sent goods that were different from those depicted on the [company's] websites – and in some cases were unusable," said an FTC statement.
The case was brought under the SAFE WEB Act, which gives the FTC the authority to sue companies which deceive foreign consumers.
The FTC asked a Californian court for a temporary restraining order on the company. That was granted and stops the company carrying on its misleading activities. The order will apply until a court has the opportunity for a full hearing on the issue.
The FTC said that customers of the sites who ordered goods such as cameras, video games and other electronics were charged unexpected import duties because the goods had come from outside the EU.
"[Customers] were left with invalid warranties, and would be charged draconian cancellation and refund fees if they attempted to send the merchandise back," the FTC statement said.
The FTC said that it had worked with the UK's Office of Fair Trading (OFT) on the case, and that it had received a number of complaints from UK customers through a centralised complaints hub.
"Many consumers in the United Kingdom registered complaints with the FTC by using the website www.econsumer.gov," said the FTC statement.
"Established by consumer protection agencies from 25 countries, this website collects consumers’ complaints about problems in other countries, and facilitates international enforcement cooperation by making the complaints available to international consumer protection agencies through the FTC’s Consumer Sentinel Network."
