Consumer's Telegram March 2015

Insert of n. 20 - Editorial office: Centro Europeo Consumatori (European Consumer Centre, Bolzano - Italy)


E-COMMERCE

Safer Internet Day

Parents are meeting the massive challenge to accompany their children using the internet from the very beginning and to train them to use it properly. Safer Internet Day took place on 10 February and was a good opportunity for all parents to face this problematic issue. The range of dangers for children and teenagers varies, whereby the European Consumer Centre (ECC) deals with topics that can still be considered as relatively harmless. By and large, the ECC "only" deals with cases where kids conclude a contract in the name of their parents, debit their parents' credit cards or cases such as subscription frauds and false raffles. More about this topic on our homepage.


ECC

Sports and Consumers

In February 35 students from 20 different countries participated in the "Winter Law School", which was organized by ELSA, a European community of law students at the Innsbruck University. The event was dedicated to sports law. Monika Nardo, legal advisor at ECC Bolzano/Bozen, was invited to speak at this event too. At first sight the combination between sports law and consumer rights is quite far-fetched, but Monika Nordo explained that since decades Italian law has considered amateur athletes as consumers and that this fact bears far-reaching consequences. For more information consult our homepage.



DATING AGENCY

Lonely hearts

It has nearly become a tradition of the European Consumer Centre (ECC) Bolzano/Bozen to take Valentine's Day as an opportunity to point out the sum of all complaints in relation to dating agencies. The figures are encouraging: Information requests and complaints have become rare. How can such a sharp decrease be explained? One reason is surely a change in the offer of this business: Nowadays there is a larger offer of online agencies, which are usually cheaper. Furthermore, the information activities of the ECC show their effects. Our website offers in any case, for those who try to find their dream partner through a dating agency, a large variety of information and practical advice.

Case of the month

Reconstructing your own place is always stressful. A consumer gathered first-hand experience when she decided to change all windows and a balcony door in her own appartment. She contacted a sales representative of an Austrian company and transferred a considerable amount as advance payment. It started with difficulties concerning delivery times. Then, the windows were not installed correctly, the parquet floor was damaged by fitters and the glass of the balcony door broke in the course of installation. Soon afterwards the consumer wrote a registered letter with return receipt, but the company answered only with empty promises to repair the damage. Subsequently, the consumer contacted the Italian ECC in Bolzano and the case was shared with their colleagues of ECC Austria. They had been driving a hard bargain for a year until they came to a positive result at the end: The damaged windows were repaired, the balcony door was replaced and also the other deficiencies were remedied. Lo and behold: The full range of documents was delivered, so that the consumer was even able to make use of the tax benefits provided by Italian tax authorities in time.