Consumer's Telegram July/August 2024
Insert of n. 54 - Editorial office: Centro Europeo Consumatori (European Consumer Centre Italy - Bolzano office)TRAVEL
The Free Advice Service of the European Consumer Centre (ECC)
The European Consumer Centre (ECC) Italy which is the Italian contact point of the European Consumer Centres Network (ECC-Net), handled more than 10,000 cross-border enquiries and complaints from consumers from all over Italy and other EU countries, as well as Iceland, Norway and the United Kingdom, last year. Many of these concerned the travel and holiday sector. Travellers' rights never go on holiday and, as usual, the ECC is on hand to help travellers free of charge to assert their rights and clarify any legal doubts on the subject of travel. European regulations on passenger rights, for example, protect travellers in case of inconveniences such as delays or cancellations. Read on the ECC website how to avoid potential problems when booking your trip.EURO 2024 IN GERMANY
Advantages and Pitfalls of the "Deutschland-Ticket"
For EUR 49 per month, the Deutschland-Ticket allows unlimited travel on regional and local transport (including buses, trams and underground trains) throughout Germany. However, it is not valid for long-distance trains such as ICE, IC and EC. The fully digital monthly travel card can be purchased on the Deutsche Bahn website. It is also available via the DB Navigator app and from regional and local transport companies. The subscription must be cancelled to avoid automatically renewal. The deadline for cancellation is the 10th day of the month. This means that if you cancel after this time, your subscription will be extended until the end of the following month. For more information.EU
Temu is Considered a VLOP
The European Commission has classified the online marketplace TEMU, which has more than 45 million users in the EU, as a Very Large Online Platform (VLOP) under the Digital Services Act. The company will thus have to comply with the stricter provisions of the Digital Services Act within four months of the notification (that is by the end of September 2024), and will therefore be obliged, among other things, to take measures to protect consumers against the purchase of unsafe or illegal goods, with particular focus to preventing the sale and distribution of products that could be harmful to minors. For more information.CASE OF THE MONTH
A consumer wanted to spend New Year's Eve with her friends in London and searched for a suitable flat for the short holiday on a booking platform, finding an interesting offer with nice pictures of the flat. One of the pictures showed a phone number which the consumer should contact via a text messaging service if she was interested in booking the flat. The consumer sent information about arrival and departure dates, number of guests, etc. to the number. She then received an e-mail which (only) apparently came from the booking platform and contained a link leading to a request for payment of approximately EUR 2,000. The consumer paid by bank transfer, but never received the final booking confirmation and became suspicious. She eventually realised that it was a scam.
The consumer asked the ECC for help. Indeed, the booking platform could presumably have recognised the fraud, protected its users and probably avoided the damage if it had checked the ad and publicised photos more thoroughly and removed them. The ECC in the country where the platform is based got in touch with the platform, which first asked for more information and documents to better understand how the facts unfolded. Eventually, the booking platform refunded the full amount to the consumer.