Consumer's Telegram June 2017

Insert of n. 45 - Editorial office: Centro Europeo Consumatori (European Consumer Centre, Bolzano - Italy)

HOLIDAY AND TRAVEL

Air passenger rights - The European Commission provides information on portals which indicate how to claim compensation for passengers.
If one is affected by a flight cancellation or delay within the European Union, in some cases one can demand compensation for inconvenience and waiting time. However, in practice it is not always easy to receive this compensation, actually. Subsequently, in recent times agencies have stated that they could claim these compensations for the customers. Recently the European Commission has published some information to explain passengers the role of the so-called "Air passenger portals" as many consumers had complained about attitudes and business practices of these agencies. You will find useful information about the issue air passenger rights on the internetsite of the ECC Bolzano/Bozen.

ENFORCING RIGHTS

European Day on May 9th, 2017
What has the EU done for us? The European Consumer's Centre (ECC) Italy - office Bolzano/Bozen
took the European Day 2017 as an occasion to remember that the European Union supports consumers: The EU has introduced rights, protection and possibilities for compensation and has provided information and advice. The ECC Italy - office Bolzano/Bozen collected some examples and presented them to the local press in the course of a "European breakfast" that took place in the office rooms of the ECC on Brenner Street. You will find clear advantages to the consumer thanks to European legislation on our homepage.

E-COMMERCE

Chargeback: a sheet anchor for online shopping fails
The Italian legislator (legislative decree no 11/2010) provides the possibility of Chargeback in case of unauthorized or wrong debit transfers (for example, a credit card was misused, the amount was debited twice or a higher amount was debited). In these cases the affected person has to contact immediately his or her bank or credit card company. In any case the affected person has to inform bank or credit card company within 13 months since the date of the debit. Even though the product was not delivered or the seller was declared insolvent or a company became bankrupt, you should try to file an application for chargeback. The ECC offers more information, please call us on 0471/980939 or email us on info@euroconsumatori.org.


Case of the month
In February 2017 a Dutch consumer bought a pair of sneakers from an Italian designer label for around 500 Euro. However, the initial joy about her fancy shoes soon got clouded: After only three weeks she had to notice that the shoes showed clear signs of wear on the heel part. She was frustrated and complained immediately via email. The Italian company informed her that she should deliver her sneakers to the shop of the company in Amsterdam. The defective shoes were sent directly to Italy where they were closely examined. The curious result of the examination was not at all satisfactory for the consumer: They told her on the phone that she had worn off the shoes because she had not slipped out properly. Furthermore they told her that the shoes had not been suitable for outdoor usage and in no way in the rain! So the consumer contacted the European Consumer's Centre (ECC) Netherlands that transmitted the complaint to the ECC Bolzano/Bozen. Our intervention turned out to be successful: Only after a few weeks the consumer received the money back she had paid for the sneakers and she was even allowed to keep them.