• Have you done your shopping at OLX and paid for the "Protection Package"? The item was supposed to come new, but it was damaged or second-hand one, came in different color or size while OLX rejected the claim?
• Selecting the cheapest products you didn't see that you would have to pay an additional maintenance fee for some of them?
• President of UOKiK has issued a decision requiring Grupa OLX to make changes to the website and refund customers.

President of UOKiK has issued a decision challenging the practices of the OLX sales website. The allegations raised by President of UOKiK relate to misleading consumers about the scope of the protection package, failing to provide information that the product can be purchased without maintenance service and misleadingly sorting offers per cheapest products. UOKiK acted on the basis of complaints from consumers who were surprised to learn that the paid protection package did not actually guarantee this protection.

- Consumers suffered negative financial consequences as a result of the actions of Grupa OLX. The company used a number of provisions that significantly limited the scope of their protection. The protection paid for by buyers was, in fact, a sham - consumers, despite having purchased a service designed to ensure the safety of transactions, may have lost money to dishonest sellers. OLX also used misleading sorting of the cheapest listings available on the website as it did not take into account the price of the maintenance service when searching for them. Moreover, the architecture of the website did not indicate a possibility of buying through direct contacts between the parties to the transaction, i.e. without a “Maintenance Service." Information about the terms of service must not be misleading. The consumer has the right to expect that a given service will be designed in an honest way and that the information contained in it will be true and reliable – says President of UOKiK, Tomasz Chróstny.

Protection package 

President of UOKiK found that the OLX platform was misleading about the extent of buyer protection offered. Many people were convinced that the protection would work if they received a damaged product. This could be evidenced by the messages sent to users after purchasing the product (e.g. Item Received? Your payment is withheld for 24 h - during this time you can confirm that the order is OK). In fact, the terms and conditions of this service contained a number of exceptions. Also, OLX's internal procedure for processing requests was more favorable to sellers, providing them with longer deadlines for providing information, for example. Consumer complaints were therefore rejected and the money the buyer paid for the item went to the fraudulent seller. Knowing this beforehand, consumers might not have opted for the "Protection Package" especially since by choosing this option they were obliged to pay for the "Maintenance Service" which increased the purchase price.

One person described their case this way to UOKiK: “I have used their services and purchased a phone I paid the money to my olx account the phone arrived however it is damaged olx washes its hands of the case claiming that their buyer protection programme does not cover damage and only if the seller did not send the package or with different contents (...).”

Maintenance Service

President of UOKiK questioned the lack of information that products available on the website could be purchased without paying a maintenance fee. The architecture of the OLX website did not reflect the provisions of the terms and conditions, according to which the purchase of items is also possible through individual arrangements between the parties to the transaction. 

Consumers also had concerns about the fee, and below is a sample submission: "OLX is carving out the price of the service fee. Arranging it this way could suggest that the price of the service fee is already in the price of the product. However, when we click "Buy with shipping," only then do we see the correct price."

Sort by the cheapest 

President of UOKiK questioned the display of search results as misleading. When selecting the positioning option "from the cheapest" - the order of the displayed products did not take into account the fee for "Maintenance Service". It was added only to some of the products. As a result, more expensive products may have displayed higher than cheaper offerings, which may have influenced final consumer decision. The practice is an example of the so-called dark patterns, that is unfair usage of the knowledge on consumers’ behaviour on the Internet with the intention of affecting their purchasing decisions. 

Decision of President of UOKiK

President of UOKiK has issued a decision requiring the Grupa OLX to change its practices. The website will give the money back to customers and inform consumers: if the consumer responds to this message, they will receive a refund to their bank account, otherwise the refund will be transferred to the "OLX wallet" on the website. Below are details of the changes being made:

Refund under the "Protection Package". It will be given to consumers who meet the following conditions: they contacted OLX from August 24, 2021 to the date of implementation of the changes resulting from the decision on the improperly executed transaction and the company rejected their claims which the consumers disputed. This also applies to those who were informed 15 days before the decision was issued that their application under the "Protection Package" had been denied but did not have time to contact the company. They will be able to do it now. The website will give back the amounts they spent to buy the product.

Refunds for the "Maintenance Service" will be given to those who contacted OLX about this service from December 1, 2021, until the date of implementation of all changes resulting from the decision. 

The company will expand the scope of the "Protection Package" - it will no longer include exclusions. Complaints as to damage to the product or its improper features will be resolved on the basis of explanations provided by the two parties to the transaction. If the consumer's claims are valid, they will get refunds for purchases, maintenance service and shipping.

The terms and conditions will include the fact that the product can be purchased directly from the buyer, bypassing "OLX Shipping" and thus without the “Maintenance Service" fee which will be included in the architecture of the website.

The results of the search by criterion from the cheapest bids will include additional fees.

For details of the commitment, read the complete decision of President of UOKiK.