does an online shop have to show a phone number

hmo

i bought a small item a few weeks ago from an online shop and didnt notice at the time that they had no phone number listed.

anway the item doesnt appear to work i emailed then on saturday and not had a reply and have emailed again this morning still no reply so far.

they have an address listed but no phone number ive tried directory enq there is a number but its discontinued.

whats the law on info re online shops i thought they had to post all contact details?

HappyMJ

I have made it a rule if I can't find phone numbers and especially a street address then I don't buy from the shop. I can't stand online shops only posting PO Boxes and mobile numbers. It says to me is it a "fly-by-night" operation.

shaun_from_Africa

No, there is no legal requirement to show a phone number.
All an online retailer has to provide is their name, their registered business address and an e-mail where they can be contacted.
Most online businesses do give a telephone contact but they are not legally obliged to do so.

If you are interested, you will find the relevant legislation here:
http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2002/2013/regulation/6/made

timbo58

As per Shaun: completely correct.
a lot of online shops also do not open over the weekend, so give them a little while to get back to you.

somethingcorporate

It is a bit premature to be worried about it!

tomoney

Just wait a few days and hopefully they get back to you

What shop is it?

scheming_gypsy

a lot of online shops work from home and will have full time jobs. They won't display a phone number because they don't want their wife / mum / husband / grandma to constantly be answering the phone if somebody wants to query something they know nothing about.

TomHood

Hi there

Have you tried finding out who owns the website?

If you do a whois domain search you will be able to find an address or number of the registered company for that website:

http://www.domaintools.com/

Hope this helps

Tom

pitkin2020

shaun_from_Africa wrote: »

No, there is no legal requirement to show a phone number.
All an online retailer has to provide is their name, their registered business address and an e-mail where they can be contacted.
Most online businesses do give a telephone contact but they are not legally obliged to do so.

If you are interested, you will find the relevant legislation here:
http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2002/2013/regulation/6/made

Spot on advice.

Give them a few days to respond as other have said a lot of people don't work weekends so may be getting through the emails this morning/afternoon after doing other jobs first. You really need to give them 2 business days to respond.

The who is search may show a phone number, but I wouldn't ring until Wednesday by then they should have had sufficient chance to of responded.