All warning letters and legal proceedings brought by the ZEV
ZEV takes action against unlawful business practices by companies in other EU countries. This page provides an overview of our current and concluded warning letters, injunctive actions and actions for redress, together with information on the status of each case.
The customer service department of European Sleeper, a Belgian-Dutch company offering international night train services, has rejected passengers’ claims for compensation and alternative transport in several cases. Furthermore, the company refused to reimburse necessary hotel costs following the cancellation of a night train in one case. In the view of the ZEV, European Sleeper’s business practices contravene EU rail passenger rights. The ZEV has therefore issued the company with a formal warning. European Sleeper has since issued a cease-and-desist declaration. We will monitor compliance with the declaration in future.
Following the cancellation of an accommodation booking by the accommodation provider, Booking.com offered consumers alternative accommodation and promised to cover the resulting price difference. However, in the cases brought to our attention, rather than paying out the price difference, it was credited as wallet credit for future bookings without the consumers’ consent. In the ZEV’s view, this constitutes an unfair commercial practice. We have therefore issued a warning to Booking.com.
The Finnish airline Finnair requires passengers to use their flights in the order in which they were booked. For example, anyone who fails to take an outbound flight may consequently lose their entitlement to the return flight. In the ZEV’s view, this practice is unlawful. We have therefore issued a warning to Finnair.
The Irish airline Ryanair informed passengers who had booked their flight through an intermediary, such as an online travel portal, that following a flight cancellation, they would need to contact the intermediary to obtain a refund of the ticket cost. Furthermore, Ryanair did not reimburse passengers for necessary costs such as hotel accommodation, meals or transfers, which passengers had to cover themselves following a flight cancellation.
We have issued a formal warning to Ryanair regarding these unfair commercial practices.
Following a flight cancellation, the Hungarian airline Wizz Air informed passengers that alternative transport would only be available on its own flights. Furthermore, for flights booked via a travel portal, the airline stated that the ticket price had to be refunded through the portal. In the ZEV’s view, this contravenes air passenger rights. The ZEV has therefore issued Wizz Air with a formal warning.
The Portuguese airline TAP Air Portugal has informed passengers that ticket refunds for bookings made via a travel portal can only be processed through the original ticket seller. In the view of the ZEV, this contravenes applicable consumer protection regulations. The ZEV has therefore issued TAP Air Portugal with a formal warning.
The Dutch airline Transavia charged a €20 processing fee to passengers who had not boarded their flight and requested a refund of the taxes and fees included in the ticket price. In the ZEV’s view, this practice was unlawful. We issued a formal warning to the airline and called on it to change its practice. Transavia subsequently issued a cease-and-desist declaration.
Greek airline Aegean charged a €23 processing fee to passengers who had not boarded their flight and requested a refund of the taxes and fees included in the ticket price. ZEV considered this practice to be unlawful. ZEV therefore issued the airline with a formal warning. Aegean subsequently amended its terms and conditions and issued a cease-and-desist declaration
The company that operates the travel portals Opodo and eDreams, Vacaciones eDreams S.L., often fails to refund consumers’ membership fees in full after they exercise their right of withdrawal from their “Prime” membership within the statutory withdrawal period. The company justifies this by stating that the price benefits of membership have already been utilised. Many affected consumers have therefore contacted ZEV.
In ZEV’s view, this justification is not valid as consumers are not explicitly asked whether they wish their membership to commence immediately. Furthermore, they are not adequately informed about the implications for their right of withdrawal in such cases.
ZEV has therefore filed a collective action for redress against the company.
This French company sells formal wear for children and teenagers on its website, lotte-und-noah.de. Several consumers have complained about the company’s business practices. In particular, it is made difficult for customers to exercise their right of withdrawal by concealing the returns address and announcing high return costs to Canada.
The company has been issued a warning for these unfair business practices, as well as for misleading advertising and breaches of labelling requirements.
This Dutch company sells clothing via its website, breuermode.de. Several consumers have complained about the company’s business practices. In particular, exercising the right of withdrawal is being made difficult by concealing the returns address and suggesting that high return costs to China would be incurred.
The company was issued with a formal warning letter regarding these unlawful business practices, including misleading advertising and breaches of labelling requirements. As there was no response to our formal notice, we have filed an action for injunctive relief.
General case details
Type of proceedings: Injunctive action
Competent court: Karlsruhe Regional Court
Case number: 14 O 38/26 KfH
Claimant: Centre for European Consumer Protection (Zentrum für Europäischen Verbraucherschutz e. V., ZEV)
Defendant company:
MR & JB E-Commerce V.O.F.
J.J. Beks and M.J.A. Ruijs
Oostelijk Halfrond 33
1183EM Amstelveen
The Netherlands
Date of filing: 29 June 2026
Do consumers need to register to benefit from the outcome of the proceedings? No, as this is an action for injunctive relief.
Entry in the register of collective actions? No
As at: 19 June 2026
This company is based in the Netherlands and sells men’s clothing via the website le-philippe.de. Several consumers complained that the company was preventing them from exercising their right to withdraw from a contract.
An investigation of the website also revealed unlawful restrictions on the right of withdrawal, misleading advertising, and breaches of labelling requirements. Accordingly, ZEV has issued the company with a formal warning letter.
A consumer was unable to return non-perishable food items (tinned food) to Amazon. Following our legal assessment, we concluded that this constitutes a clear breach of the European right of withdrawal.
Our formal warning letter was unsuccessful. We have therefore filed an action for an injunction.
ZEV received several complaints from consumers who were offered vouchers instead of a refund after exercising their right of withdrawal within the legal timeframe. In our view, this is unlawful, so we have issued the company with a warning letter.
Following further breaches, ZEV issued another formal warning letter and claimed a contractual penalty.
Consumers reported to ZEV that they had been unwittingly signed up to a paid subscription via PDFGuru.com.
Our investigation revealed that the order button was not clearly labelled, the price information was misleading, and the legally required cancellation button was missing.
In the ZEV’s view, this is a classic subscription trap, so we issued a warning letter.
We have become aware of cases in which users of cvtoolspro.com have unwittingly taken out a subscription.
Our investigation revealed that the order button was not labelled in accordance with the law (‘Download CV’ instead of ‘Buy now’), and that important information about the contract term was hidden in the small print.
In our view, this constitutes a clear subscription trap, and we have therefore issued a warning letter to the company.
Several consumers have contacted ZEV to report that, after exercising their right of withdrawal, the madbagstore.com shop only offered vouchers and refused to provide a cash refund.
We also identified additional breaches of consumer rights, such as incorrect information on the cancellation period, a missing legally required cancellation form, and the shop claiming not to be liable for returns despite bearing the risk. We have issued a warning letter to the company.
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