Konsument Europa - Konsumentverket

European Consumer Centre
ECC Sweden
Possibilities and problems within
cross-border purchases
Karlstad, 8 December 2011
Jolanda Girzl
ECC Sweden
Konsument Europa
• Unit within the Swedish Consumer Agency
• Part of the European Consumer Centre
Network, the ECC-Net in 29 countries.
• Co-financed by the European Commission
and the Swedish Consumer Agency 50/50.
• Free of charge.
• Goal - inform European consumers so they
can take full advantage of the opportunities
offered by the Internal Market.
The ECC-Net
• Aim - promote consumer confidence in crossborder transactions.
• Provides information and advice on consumer
rights within the European Union.
• Assistance for the extrajudicial resolution of
cross-border complaints. Promotion of alternative
dispute resolution.
• Public information campaigns, reports, projects,
publications and consultations.
• In 2010 the ECC-Net handled more then 71 000
cases. 44 000 were complaints/disputes.
Handling of complaints
Consumer
Consumer ECC
National
Traders
Trader – EU,
Norway or
Iceland
Trader ECC- EU,
Norway or Iceland
Alternative Dispute
Resolution, ADR
Topics
•
•
•
•
•
•
E-commerce – shopping online
Airline travel and package travel
Internet services
Timeshare and Holiday clubs
Car queries and car rental
Contact point for E-commerce
Possibilities within crossborder purchases via Internet
•
•
•
•
Easy to shop
Web shops open 24 hours
Often lower prices than in physical shops
Large selections, you can sit at home and
buy goods from other countries
• Easy to compare websites
• You are able to get better deals
Typical cases
• Travel related queries/complaints
– Air passengers rights
• E-commerce
– Online services
• ’My personality test’, ’Value your house/car’
– Online shopping - faulty or undelivered
goods
– Safe payment methods: SSL-https,()
Typical cases
• Scams/Fraud
– Classifieds sites, spoof sites
– Fake lotteries, Nigeria letters
– Counterfeits goods – clothes, well known brands,
web shop claims to be located within the EU
– Tickets to cultural/sport events
– Car sales - Victim pays money to the escrow
company
Internet services IQ Quiz Ads
You click on one of the ads and are brought to a site
where you’re asked up to 10 easy questions.
You will then be prompted to enter your phone number
to view the results. Don’t enter your phone number!
If you do, you will be charged directly to your phone bill.
Internet services
• Invoice and reminder from the company.
• Debt collection from company or "law firm“.
• Fear of payment default and enforcement makes the
consumer pay.
Consumer education
Pro-active work
•
•
•
Cooperation with Universities
teacher training in consumer issues
lectures in consumer law
tutoring essays
Visits by secondary school
Europa diary and Teacher’s Guide
http://www.europadiary.eu/
• Dolceta for consumers and teachers - online
Consumer Education project involving 27 countries
http://www.dolceta.eu/
Consumer education
Pro-active work
www.konsumenteuropa.se
Accessibility
www.konsumenteuropa.se
Howard, the shopping assistant: check
if a certain web trader can be trusted with
your money
Guide to filing a complaint : helps you
when you want to write a complaint to the
seller - with letter templates
Complaint form: PDF form to register a
complaint
Shopping assistent - Howard
Shopping assistent - Howard
Cooperation EU-Networks
• National Enforcement Bodies – NEB
• Consumer Protection Cooperation – CPC
• SOLVIT - solve problems caused by the
misapplication of Internal Market law by
public authorities
• Enterprise Europe Network
• Europe Direct
Thank you for your attention!
Contact details
Jolanda Girzl
Director
European Consumer Centre Sweden
Swedish Consumer Agency | Tage Erlandergatan 8A | 651 02 Karlstad
Phone: +46 54 19 40 52
E-mail: jolanda.girzl@konsumenteuropa.se
www.konsumenteuropa.se