WARSAW, March 27 (Reuters) - Amazon ( AMZN ) has been

fined 31 million zlotys ($7.8 million) in Poland for misleading

customers about product availability and delivery dates,

consumer watchdog UOKiK said on Wednesday.

The regulator said it had received complaints from customers

who did not receive their orders.

"The average consumer has the right to assume that the

purchase options, availability and delivery times offered by

traders are not misleading," UOKiK head Tomasz Chrostny said in

a statement.

Chrostny said that UOKiK had questioned practices such as

displaying a time counter on the screen indicating a period in

which the order should be placed without a guarantee that it

will arrive within the timeframe given.

Amazon's ( AMZN ) press office said the company would appeal against

the decision.

"While the vast majority of our deliveries arrive on time,

customers can contact us in the rare event that they experience

a delay or order cancellation, and we will make it right," it

said in an emailed statement.

"Over the last year, we have collaborated with ... UOKiK,

and proposed multiple voluntary amendments to continue to

improve the customer experience on Amazon.pl. We strictly follow

legal standards in all countries where we operate and we

strongly disagree with the assessment and penalty issued by the

UOKiK."

($1 = 3.9811 zlotys)