The right to withdraw from a distance purchase lasts fourteen calendar days from the day you receive the goods, and it is not extended because the seller is slow to answer the chat. It is set by article 104 of the consolidated text of the Spanish General Consumer Protection Act (Royal Legislative Decree 1/2007) and it is the simplest way to return something that is not what you ordered without having to justify anything. Anyone who receives the wrong parcel from AliExpress or Temu and spends three weeks trading messages with the shop has lost that right without noticing. The platform’s own buyer protection works the same way and more abruptly, because the deadline for opening a dispute appears on the order page, keeps running while you negotiate and, once it expires, the system treats the order as closed and the payment as settled. In these purchases waiting has a specific cost, because the quick and free remedies lapse and only the ones that cost time and money remain.
Who you actually contracted with
AliExpress and Temu operate as marketplaces where thousands of independent sellers, most of them established in China, offer their products. The platform collects the price, holds the payment for a period, arbitrates disputes and keeps a commission. Your sales contract is with the seller whose name appears on the shop page, except for the minority of products the platform sells directly. That distinction decides who you can claim against and how likely you are to be paid.
Against a seller outside the Union, Spanish law protects you on paper. The Rome I Regulation (Regulation (EC) 593/2008) subjects the contract to the law of the consumer’s country of residence when the trader directs its activity there, and any shop selling in euros, in Spanish and with delivery to Spain is doing exactly that. Article 22 quinquies of the Spanish Judiciary Act allows a consumer habitually resident in Spain to sue in the Spanish courts. The right exists. What fails is enforcement, because a Spanish judgment against a company in Shenzhen is only collected if it is recognised and enforced in China, and that process costs considerably more than any ordinary order.
Against the platform, the picture has changed with the Digital Services Act (Regulation (EU) 2022/2065). AliExpress and Temu are designated by the European Commission as very large online platforms and carry obligations of their own. Article 30 requires them to identify every professional seller and verify their details before allowing them to trade, and to display those details to the buyer. Article 6(3) makes them liable under consumer law when they present an offer in a way that would lead an average consumer to believe the platform itself, or someone under its control, is the seller. Temu contracts with European users through a company established in Ireland, while AliExpress does so through a company in Singapore, a detail that matters because one is inside the Union and the other is not.
Breach of contract or fraud
A parcel that never arrives, or arrives containing something else, is in principle a breach of contract and is dealt with through the civil route. Article 66 bis of the consolidated text obliges the seller to deliver within the agreed period and, if none was agreed, within thirty days of the contract. Once that period is missed, the consumer may terminate the contract and demand a refund of everything paid. If the product arrives but is not as advertised, does not work or is a counterfeit, there is a lack of conformity under articles 114 and following, with a right to repair or replacement and, where that is not possible, to a price reduction or termination. The seller is liable for defects that appear within three years of delivery and the action is time-barred after five years.
Fraud is something else. Article 248 of the Spanish Criminal Code punishes anyone who, for gain, uses sufficient deception to cause another person to err and induce them into a disposition of property to their own detriment. What turns a failed sale into a crime is that the deception precedes the payment, because the seller never intended to deliver. The penalty under article 249 is six months to three years’ imprisonment where the amount defrauded exceeds 400 euros, and a fine of one to three months, as a minor offence, where it does not. Article 250 raises it to one to six years’ imprisonment plus a fine when the fraud affects a large number of people or exceeds 50,000 euros, which is the typical scenario of a ghost shop with thousands of orders.
The signs pointing to a crime repeat themselves. A shop opened days ago with thousands of sales. A branded product priced far below the market. A tracking number that shows «delivered» at another address in the same town or with a weight incompatible with what you bought, a trick designed to win the dispute. Pressure to pay by bank transfer or through a link outside the platform. Messages asking you to confirm receipt or close the dispute «so the refund can be released». Also text messages about a supposedly pending customs fee, which come neither from the seller nor from the postal service and only want your card details, as I explained in this article on Correos text scams. And parcels you never ordered arriving in your name, a practice known as brushing, which means your data is circulating and someone is posting fake reviews with it.
Where there are signs of fraud, at the firm we assess whether a criminal complaint is worthwhile and prepare the electronic evidence so it holds up in court, within our cybercrime practice.
What to do today so as not to make the case worse
Save screenshots of the product listing as you saw it when you bought, with the price, the shop name and the promised delivery time, because sellers edit or delete listings. Save the order page, the full message history and the tracking with its dates. If the parcel has arrived, film the unboxing in one uninterrupted take, from the label to the contents, and keep the packaging. Do not confirm receipt of an order you do not have. Do not close an open dispute in exchange for a promise. Do not pay anything outside the platform and do not click customs links received by text message. Do not delete the account or the order however much it annoys you to see it. If you already entered your card on a fake fee page, call your bank to block it, and read what you can demand from them afterwards in this article on bank refunds after phishing.
The routes and what each one delivers
| Route | Against whom | Limiting deadline | What you obtain |
|---|---|---|---|
| Withdrawal (art. 104 Consumer Act) | Seller | 14 calendar days from receipt | Refund of the price, no reason required |
| Termination for non-delivery (art. 66 bis Consumer Act) | Seller | Agreed period or 30 days from purchase | Full refund of what was paid |
| Lack of conformity (arts. 114 et seq. Consumer Act) | Seller | 3 years of liability, action time-barred after 5 | Repair, replacement, price reduction or termination |
| Criminal complaint for fraud (arts. 248 to 250 Criminal Code) | Identified or unknown offender | Time-barred after 1 year if minor offence, 5 years if over 400 euros | Conviction and civil liability for the loss |
| Civil claim (oral proceedings up to 15,000 euros) | Seller or platform | 5 years (art. 1964 Civil Code) | Judgment, enforceable wherever there are assets |
The platform dispute is the fastest route and only works while it is open. If you paid by card, there is also the chargeback, both for an unauthorised transaction, with the refund obligation imposed by payment services regulation, and for goods not received through the card network’s own rules. How that claim is framed and with which documents is the lawyer’s job.
Municipal consumer offices mediate, but cannot compel a seller outside the Union to do anything, and consumer arbitration requires the trader to agree to submit to it, which no Chinese shop does. The European Consumer Centre only intervenes with traders established in another Member State. That leaves the platform, where it can be held to its own liability under the Digital Services Act, and the courts. Oral proceedings cover claims up to 15,000 euros since Royal Decree-Law 6/2023, and below 2,000 euros it is not compulsory to appear with a lawyer or court agent, although Organic Law 1/2025 requires proof of a prior attempt at negotiated settlement before filing a claim. On what the evidence must look like to hold up, see this article on electronic evidence.
Jurisdiction, limitation and dismissal
The courts of A Coruña have jurisdiction to investigate a fraud committed by someone in China. The Supreme Court holds that the offence is committed where the victim makes the disposition, and you paid from here. The complaint can be filed at a police station, a Guardia Civil post or directly with the duty court.
Dismissal for unknown offender is the usual outcome when the seller has no trace in Europe, and that dismissal is provisional. If someone is later identified, or if another investigation gathers complaints against the same shop, the case is reopened. A criminal dismissal does not extinguish the civil action, which stays alive for its five years. The case changes when payment was made outside the platform by transfer to a Spanish account. That account belongs to a person with a name and address who has acted as a money mule, and against that person there is someone to report, for fraud or for money laundering under article 301 of the Criminal Code, and someone whose assets can be seized.
What is at stake and what we do
People who claim on their own tend to let the withdrawal period and the dispute lapse while waiting for the seller, or close the dispute on a promise, or confirm receipt by mistake, and with that they lose the only routes that return the money within weeks. At the firm we practise criminal defence in e-commerce fraud and direct the civil claim against the seller or the platform when there is someone to direct it against, with the evidence prepared so it holds. You can call +34 677 841 007 or write to us through the contact page. Have to hand the order number, the date and amount of the payment, the payment method, the screenshots of the listing and the chat, and the current status of the dispute on the platform.
Frequently asked questions
Are AliExpress or Temu legally obliged to refund me, or only the seller?
Your contract is with the seller, who is liable for delivery and for the conformity of the product. The platform is liable under its own buyer protection while the deadline is open, and under the Digital Services Act it is also liable under consumer law when it presents the offer in a way that makes it look like the seller, or when it has not verified the seller’s identity as article 30 requires.
Can I report a seller based in China to the authorities in A Coruña?
Yes. The Supreme Court holds that the fraud is committed where the victim makes the payment, so the courts where you live have jurisdiction. The likely outcome is a provisional dismissal if the offender is not identified, but the complaint is on record, is joined to others against the same shop and is reopened if a responsible person appears.
I paid by bank transfer outside the platform because the seller asked me to. What now?
You lose the platform’s buyer protection and the card chargeback. In return, if the receiving account is Spanish, there is an identifiable account holder who has acted as a mule, and against that person a complaint for fraud or money laundering and a civil claim are possible. It is the situation where the criminal route has the most mileage.
Is it worth claiming over 40 euros? Do I need a lawyer?
For 40 euros, open the dispute in time and, if you paid by card, request a chargeback. Suing or filing a criminal complaint over that amount does not pay and I will not tell you otherwise. You need a lawyer when the amount is significant, when there are several orders or several victims of the same shop, when you paid by transfer to a Spanish account, or when the platform rejected the dispute on the strength of a fake tracking number and it has to be rebutted with evidence.