Consumer's Telegram November 2015

Insert of n. 76 - Editorial office: Centro Europeo Consumatori (European Consumer Centre, Bolzano - Italy)


E-COMMERCE

Subscription-trap: „WhatsApp Gold“

WhatsApp is one of the most popular message services. This popularity makes it also attractive for frauds. Therefore, at the moment many users receive from WhatsApp a notice promoting a new service package with many attractive additional functions: WhatsApp Gold. Pay Attention: WhatsApp Gold does not exist! In order to receive the package users are supposed to pass on an information through WhatsApp Gold to ten friends. As soon as the users have sent a notice to ten persons they are invited to disconnect a possible WLAN-connection. The result of such an offer is that consumers give their phone number and the phone number of ten other persons. When you click on the „Continue“ botton you'll be redirected on different websites offering raffles and other products. On such sites users are misled to sign subscription contracts. More information on the site of our colleagues of the ECC Austria.


10 years in the service of European consumers:

The ECC-Net celebrates birthday

The ECC-Net (Euroepan Consumer Centres Network) is a network consisting of 30 centres within the EC-member states, Norway and Iceland. This centre offers consumers free support and professional consulting concerning cross-border shopping. The network was founded ten years ago from the European Commission in collaboration of the governments in the individual member states. Since then, between 2005 and 2014, consumers asked for help in more than 650.000 cases and contacted the centres of the ECC-net. Since 20 years many centres in the one or the other form have developped – so also the ECC in Bolzano/Bozen that has celebrated the ECC-Net-jubilee appropriately inviting representatives of the media to a birthday breakfast und informing about their extensive programme. More about this on our homepage.


Case of the month
In the month of November we received through our colleagues of the European Consumer's Centre Germany a complaint from a Bavarian consumer. He was not satisfied with his purchase of six pullovers produced by a well-known Italian company. The pullovers shrinked very much in size after the first washing, even though the consumer had followed the instructions on the garment care label carefully. The European Consumer's Centre in Bolzano/Bozen contacted the Italian company that proposed that an in-house expert would analyse the washed items. The expert suspected Mr Kurt not having followed the garment care label. However, Kurt did not want to accept further costs for a return delivery and did not agree with this offer. The Italian merchant did not want to leave the matter there and offered the Bavarian customer a voucher for the purchase of three pullovers. The voucher can be redeemed in every Italian branch store. With this gesture the German consumer is not only satisfied but he also has a good reason to return to Italy.