These rules only apply to sales by professionals to private persons (B2C).
For example, an online purchase made by a Belgian consumer on a British or Chinese platform:
Please verify whom you buy from and especially whether the VAT and the import duties are included in the selling price, so as to avoid any surprises. Check your order and your invoice!
More info on the website of the Federal Public Service Finance: for private individuals // video private individuals
A shipment coming from a country outside the European Union can be subject to a check and various duties and fees: VAT, import duties (also called “customs duties”) and excise duties (only on specific products such as alcohol, tobacco, etc.).
“Customs formalities” are administrative formalities concerning the collection of the various duties and fees.
Some Internet traders give an estimation of the customs duties and formalities beforehand as soon as the order is placed.
Some postal operators will ask a compensation for performing those customs formalities, payable in addition to the duties and fees; others have already integrated those costs in the fixed costs of their products/services.
Yes, provided that there is an interruption of at least 8 hours.
Operators are - in the case of a financial compensation - free to determine the way in which they grant the compensation (this can be a credit note for instance, or it can be in the form of a discount on the amount of the fee on the invoice).
They have to communicate the manner of their choice to the end-users in a transparent manner.
When operators wish to compensate the subscribers (or users of prepaid cards) affected in kind (e.g. a free movie), they have to communicate this clearly and give the end-users the choice between this form or a financial compensation.
No.
Save the case of prepaid cards, end-users do not have to request the compensation. It is the operators who have to take the necessary steps.
For operators to be aware of the interruption, it is in the interest of the end-users to immediately report interruptions to their operators.
This is especially so for mobile services, in which case only those customers who have reported the interruption, will receive a compensation.
Yes, provided that the mobile service suffers an interruption of at least 8 consecutive hours at the known billing address.
When a mobile antenna is down, that does not automatically mean that there was no coverage during at least 8 hours. For a big part of the territory is covered by more than one antenna.
In case of a prepaid card, the end-user has to request the compensation himself.
There is no right to a legal compensation in case of force majeure or when the end-user himself is to blame for the interruption.