Amazon’s German Users Get Busy Signal in Ruling on Phone Contact

Amazon.com Inc. can hang up on customers in Germany, a European court said in a ruling that says the retailer doesn’t have to provide telephone or fax numbers to users when they buy from its platform.

Germany can’t force Amazon by law to provide contact numbers for purchases, as long as users have a way to contact traders that guarantees “direct and efficient communication,” the EU Court of Justice in Luxembourg said July 10 in a binding ruling.

The case has been debated by the EU’s top judges since 2017, when Germany’s Federal Court of Justice sought their advice in ...