From: mariond@facts.com   
      
   Carlos E.R. wrote:   
   >> Overall, customer service in Europe sucks compared to that of the USA, but   
   >> if anyone out there wishes to claim otherwise, just name the country &   
   >> we'll compare.   
   >   
   > I just got a failed torch replaced by the Chinese manufacturer, months   
   > after the purchase, sold over Amazon.   
   >   
   > I returned a hand cart to Amazon because its weight was double what the   
   > description said.   
   >   
   > Or the time I returned a fridge at a supermarket because it was small, I   
   > wanted a bigger model.   
      
   As I had intimated, nobody in the world has customer service like in the   
   USA, where Amazon is a USA company & Spain "allows them" to treat Spanish   
   consumers the same as they treat their USA customers, so you're fine.   
      
   In Germany, where I happen to know things better than in Spain, it's   
   considered an unfair business practice which, as of that last court case   
   anyway, American companies are not allowed to advertise they provide.   
      
   Germany has case law under the Gesetz gegen den unlauteren Wettbewerb   
   (UWG), the Act Against Unfair Competition, that restricts how USA companies   
   can advertise customer service (since it's better than German companies).   
      
   In Germany, based on that case, American companies can "privately" offer   
   good service, but they can't use it to advertise their product offering.   
      
   The German Federal Court of Justice (Bundesgerichtshof, BGH) has ruled in   
   several decisions that American companies advertising exceptional customer   
   service creates an unfair competitive advantage over what is legally   
   required.   
      
   Luckily, Spanish law allows USA customers to advertise their exceptional   
   customer service over and above what is required by Spanish consumer law.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)