The situation
A webshop’s general terms, uploaded
An online retailer of children’s furniture in Gdańsk sells to consumers in Poland and, since spring, in Spain through a Spanish-language version of its shop. Its terms were written for Poland and translated. They let the retailer change prices after an order, refund returns only as store credit and send every dispute to the court in Gdańsk.
The client wants to know which clauses will not survive a challenge in either country before a consumer authority or a customer’s lawyer finds them. The hours go on testing 41 clauses against the Directive and two national regimes, then rewriting the risky ones so the shop still works.
What the research has to settle
The rules behind the answer
- The test for an unfair term
- Under the Unfair Terms Directive, a term not individually negotiated is unfair if, contrary to good faith, it causes a significant imbalance in the parties’ rights to the consumer’s detriment. An unfair term does not bind the consumer, and the contract continues without it if it can.
- Courts check unprompted and do not repair
- The Court of Justice has held that national courts must assess unfairness of their own motion, and may not rewrite an unfair term into an acceptable one. A clause that goes too far is lost entirely, not trimmed.
- Spanish customers keep Spanish protection
- Where a trader directs its activity to consumers in another member state, the Rome I Regulation keeps the protection of the mandatory law of the consumer’s home country, whatever law the terms choose.
- Consumers sue at home
- Under the Brussels I bis Regulation, a consumer in that position may sue in the courts of their home country and can be sued only there. A clause sending every dispute to Gdańsk does not change that for Spanish customers.
How it runs in azta
From the question to the document
The question, as you would type it
Polish webshop selling to consumers in Poland and Spain under Polish law. Terms allow price changes after order confirmation, refunds on withdrawal as store credit only, and exclusive jurisdiction of Gdańsk courts. Which of these are unfair or unlawful for Spanish and Polish consumers, and what are the relevant decisions?
You start with
A webshop’s general terms, uploaded
- 01
Upload the terms in both languages
Add the Polish and Spanish versions. azta reads them and refers back to the clause it relied on, so differences in the translation show up too.
File upload· Pro - 02
Test each clause
Ask which clauses are at risk under the Directive, Polish consumer law and the Spanish consumer protection act. azta cites each provision.
Cited research· Free - 03
Find the decisions on similar clauses
For the price-change and refund clauses, ask for decisions on comparable terms. azta searches the Court of Justice and the national courts it holds and links each decision.
Case-law search - 04
Draft the review and the redrafts
Ask for a table of clauses at risk, the reason and a compliant redraft. Edit it in Canvas and translate the redrafts into Spanish for the shop.
Canvas · Ask azta· Pro You send
A list of clauses at risk under consumer law, with the basis and a redraft for each
What you get
A list of clauses at risk under consumer law, with the basis and a redraft for each
Terms review · draft
Your shop terms: clauses to change before the next season
Price changes after order, clause 4.3. Once you confirm an order, a term letting you raise the price without a right for the customer to cancel is very likely unfair in both countries. We propose fixing the price at confirmation.
Refunds as store credit, clause 9.2. When a customer withdraws from a distance purchase, the refund must go back by the same means of payment unless the customer expressly agrees otherwise. Store credit can be offered, not imposed.
Courts, clause 15. Spanish customers can bring claims in Spain and can only be sued there. The clause should say that it does not affect consumers’ rights under the law of their country of residence.
Outcomes on your numbers
What azta is worth on this task
Pro pays for itself after
9 minutes a month
At €200 an hour, that is all the time Pro (€27 a month) has to take off your desk to cover its price.
Example figures. Replace them with your own.
- Hours back a year
- 59
- Capacity at your rate
- €11,880
- More consumer-terms reviews a quarter
- 2.3
- Return on Pro
- 36.7×
- Research
- Drafting
- Your review
A scenario you set, not a promise. The hours that come back go to another client, or deeper into this one.
Want these numbers on your team’s real workload?
Book a demoWhat stays with you
- Confirming how the shop actually operates, including which terms customers see before ordering.
- Weighing legal risk against the client’s commercial needs.
- The final terms and the advice you sign.
Frequently asked questions
- Does azta check the Polish and Spanish versions against each other?
- It reads both uploaded versions and can point out where the wording differs. Ask it to compare specific clauses.
- Can it cover a third country the shop will sell to next?
- Yes. Add the country to your question and azta researches its consumer law alongside the Directive.
- Will it rewrite the whole terms document?
- It drafts redrafts of the clauses at risk, which you can edit in Canvas. The final terms stay your work and your client’s decision.
