Co-funded by
the European Union
European Consumer Centre (ECC) Italy Bolzano office

Consumer's Telegram November 2024

Insert of n. 86 - Editorial office: Centro Europeo Consumatori (European Consumer Centre Italy - Bolzano office)

ONLINE SUBSCRIPTIONS

The ECC's Tips for Avoiding Nasty Surprises

More and more consumers find themselves locked into subscriptions that keep renewing without notice, often at a higher cost than initially foreseen. The option to provide for automatic renewal is not in itself an illegitimate clause, although it must be expressly and specifically accepted (even a click may suffice!) and therefore great care must be taken by internet users. The most common cases concern, for instance, streaming services, where the free trial period turns into a monthly paid subscription, subscriptions to newspapers and digital magazines, where initial promotions give way to high fees upon renewal, software, such as computer programmes or smartphone apps, or even online courses, access to platforms or other online services. Find out how to protect yourself by following the advice of the European Consumer Centre (ECC) Italy.

BEWARE OF THE TRAP!

The (Overly) Cheap Flat Rental Scam

For years, the ECC has repeatedly received requests from consumers who come across advertisements for cheap rental flats on various internet portals, which unfortunately turn out to be scams. While the photos of the flat are very attractive, the flat cannot be visited in person, because the owner is abroad. What is striking is the unbeatable price and the temptation to pay even less if one pays several months of rent (preferably the whole year) in advance. Alarm bells should go off in such cases, otherwise several thousand euros will be lost irretrievably in a short time, because the flat obviously does not exist. The European Consumer Centre (ECC) advises against making down payments without first viewing the flat on site free of charge and without obligation.

TRAVEL

What is Coming up for Travellers to the UK?

Since the UK left the European Union, entry requirements for tourism have changed several times. Long gone are the days when one's ID card was enough to visit the country; now a passport is required. Soon, however, there will also be an obligation to hold an electronic travel authorisation, the so-called ETA (Electronic Travel Authorisation). It will be required for EU citizens from 2 April 2025 and can only be applied for from 5 March 2025 on the app or on the UK Home Office website at a cost of £10. For more information.

CASE OF THE MONTH
A Bulgarian consumer had ordered a pair of football gloves for his son from an Italian online shop. However, the young footballer was very disappointed when, upon unpacking them, he realised that the gloves were defective. After the online shop did not respond to the consumer's complaints, the consumer contacted the European Consumer Centre (ECC) Bulgaria without delay, which asked ECC Italy to intervene to resolve the complaint.
ECC Italy's legal advisor contacted the shop asking for its cooperation and received immediate feedback from the online seller, who said he was surprised that no complaint had been received previously and assured that the issue would be addressed immediately. In reality, it turned out that the e-mail address used by the consumer for the complaint was wrong and therefore the complaint had not even been received and could not be dealt with.
Once again, a case was successfully concluded and ECC Italy's advisors realised (not for the first time) that behind some disputes there is actually a misunderstanding, which can be easily resolved.