[sdoering]

I agree that the free market is easily gamed and therefore I really am glad to be living in a country with relatively strong consumer protection laws.

I buy online, I can return within two weeks no question asked.

It breaks within two years - I return it. Either I get a repaired one or a new one or my money back.

There are few exceptions but mostly it makes shopping quite secure.

Yes. There are bad actors. Yes people get ripped off by shady online stores. But if using trusted shop, PayPal or one of the known big shopping brands the experience is mostly good.

[wilkommen]

What country do you live in?

[pbhjpbhj]

2 years is minimum default warranty by law in EU.

In the UK we have a warranty period with no particular limit, undergirded by the EU 2 year default, through the Consumer Rights Act -- basically it's founded on how long products would be reasonably expected to last, a fridge should last a decade, a cheap toy arguably far less.

But, I've had a problem with this that I think it's a useful example: Steam sold me a defective game, I tried to play it but the bugs ultimately made it impossible to enjoy (the purpose of entertainment!). Under the CRA digital goods are explicitly included in the ability to return when defective; but Steam/Valve decided their rules on "play" time trumped UK law. PayPal provided a refund (tiny amount of money) in accordance with their terms, but now Steam have taken revenge (the employee time spent on the issue certainly cost more than the original purchase), threatening to close, and then simply limiting my account. That should be illegal IMO, but I don't know if it is. I'm not going to pursue them at this point.

Imagine if a fast-food outlet said "if you complain about your food we'll ban you from buying from us", that would have a perverse effect on consumers and reduce the ability to push back against instances of low quality food. Sure, you can boycott them but that seems worse for everyone.

TL;DR at least in the digital domain, even with strong consumer protections companies can work around the law.

[_0w8t]

Norway has similar 14 day return right for things ordered online. It is originated in eighties when the phone or postal orders became popular. Basically if you do not have a chance to examine the thing one is getting like in a physical shop, the seller must accept returns within 14 days. This cannot be restricted to unopened or unused things.

[cevn]

Sounds like something in EU to me.