What the European Consumer Center Belgium can offer you

Welcome to the European Consumer Centre (ECC) Belgium

The European Consumer Centre (ECC) Belgium is part of a network of 29 ECCs across the European Union, Iceland, and Norway. The short version of our mission is to empower consumers by helping them understand and assert their rights when shopping across borders. We offer free legal advice, mediation services, and practical support for cross-border consumer disputes.

ECC Belgium is co-funded by:

• The European Union
• The Federal Public Service Economy, SMEs, Self-employed and Energy

Please read further to discover:

• What we can do for you
• What we cannot do
• How we work – our procedure
• What we expect from you
• Response times
• Quality Charter and mission

What We Can Do for You

If you are a consumer residing in Belgium and have a question or complaint about a purchase made from a business based in another EU country, Iceland, Norway or UK, ECC Belgium can help. If you are based in a different EU country, you can contact our network colleagues from your country of residence.

• We have a website with tons of information. Check first our website to see if we addressed an article on the topic of your question.
• You can contact us by phone for brief information or advice from the legal advisor.
• You can also submit a complete and structured file through the complaint form. The legal team will analyse your complaint or question and can provide, according to their judgment:
  • Legal information, practical information or advice tailored to your situation
  • Mediation with the trader via our European network to find an amicable solution
  • Guidance on alternative dispute resolution (ADR) or court if mediation fails or is not possible

Our services are free of charge and aim to resolve disputes amicably. We have no enforcement power. The network of enforcement authorities, like the Belgian Economic Inspection, does have enforcement power and ECC collaborates actively with them.

What We Cannot Do

ECC Belgium is limited to the scope that was given to us by our founding and funding partners like the European Commission and the Ministry of Economic Affairs.

Our scope is cross border consumer issues within the EU, Norway, Iceland and the UK. We’re here to help as much as we can, but there are a few situations where our services might not be the best fit.

Here’s a guide to when we are not competent or may not be able to assist, and what you can do instead:

We cannot act if the trader is not a professional established in the EU:

• If both parties are based in Belgium. For national cases, please check ConsumerConnect.
• If one party is outside the EU, Norway, Iceland or the UK.
• If the trader is not officially registered, is a private person, cannot be identified, operates a fraudulent website or is involved in bankruptcy. If you paid with credit card, try chargeback. In case of fraud, check our tips.
• If the trader has refused cooperation with ECC-Net in the past, we cannot help you and will inform you about it. In some cases, we have this information on our website. You can use the search function to check this.
• If the counterparty is an authority, you should contact SOLVIT.

Only consumers resident in Belgium can file a complaint at our ECC:

• You made the purchase on the name of a company, NGO, or other professional activity. The invoice and use of a VAT number by the purchaser is decisive. Consumer law is not applicable and ECC-Net is not competent. Courts are the only option.
• You are the lawyer or legal representative of a consumer. ECC wants to contact the consumer directly, except if the consumer gives a written consent to ECC to contact the legal representative.
• You as a consumer reside outside Belgium. You can contact the ECC in your home country if you are resident in another ECC country. Consumers from outside the EU, Norway and Iceland should contact the options in their home country.

The claim is about a consumer purchase covered by EU Consumer law:

• If you are seeking compensation for moral damages which are not supported by receipts. These cases are for the courts.
• If the complaint is unclear or the claim is disproportionate. ECC-Net can only start mediation with the trader if the complaint has a clear legal basis, is solid with enough proof and the claim is in line with the legislation.

Operational Limitations:

• ECC Belgium provides legal advice and information on consumer rights. But before we can start mediation with the trader the consumer should have written to the trader himself and give a reasonable delay for response.
• We cannot force traders to cooperate, impose sanctions, or shut down websites. If you want to signal a trader for unfair practices, contact the Economic Inspection.
• We do not represent consumers in court, we can only provide basic information on e.g. ESCP.
• ECC Belgium has experienced lawyers to handle the cases but limited resources to handle the big number of queries we receive on a yearly basis.
• If the complaint is already being handled by a court or another body. When you file a complaint to us, it is important you give us the full mandate. Parallel proceedings might obstruct one another.
• If there is another service more appropriate than ECC-Net, we will provide you with this option. This can be the case when there is a protection of the purchase through the credit card, insurance or a buyer’s protection scheme offered by the seller.

Behavioral expectations from consumer requesting our service:

• We need clear and true information about the case. If the file contains false information or disrespectful language, towards the trader or towards us, the case will be closed.
• We need documents supporting the claim. If the file is unstructured or missing key documents, even after our request, the case will be closed. We receive sometimes 30 print screens in a case with parts of a conversation. This is too time-consuming for us to deal with. Print screens do not provide all the information we need.
• We need an exclusive mandate. If the same complaint is submitted to multiple authorities without informing us, we will close the case. Putting our services in CC should be avoided.
• The remedy requested by the consumers should be in line with the legislation and not too minor to justify the resources required to handle the case.
• The advice from the legal team should not be repeatedly challenged with without new arguments. Do not contact us several times to have a different advisor and do not fully trust AI for legal queries as it might hallucinate.

How We Work – Our Procedure

Our complaint handling process follows four clear steps:

1. Initial Analysis
   We assess whether your complaint falls within our scope and whether mediation is appropriate. If not, we’ll try to guide you to the right authority.
2. Advice
   If your case is eligible, our legal experts will advise you on how to assert your rights with the trader.
3. Mediation
   If the issue remains unresolved, we forward your case to the ECC in the trader’s country to attempt an amicable solution. The ECC in your home country will remain your contact ECC and will keep you informed. The trader ECC will contact the trader in the language of the trader and taking into account national legislation of the trader country.
4. Outcome
   We inform you of the result. If mediation fails, we’ll explain your remaining options, including ADR, legal proceedings or enforcement action.

Note: within the mediation process it is important that a consumer keeps us informed about any event related to their complaint. We would highly appreciate to be informed, within the case, about a communication from the trader, a reimbursement, a delivery, etc. in order to avoid wasting precious time.

What We Expect From You

To help us help you, please use the right contact method:

• For a new case, please only use the complaint form and provide us with a complete and structured file through the complaint form as we mention on that page including:
  • Proof of purchase/reservation
  • Proof of payment
  • Chronological correspondence with the trader (1 PDF or Word)
  • IBAN and BIC (if requesting a refund)
  • Any other relevant evidence

• Further communication related to a case: Only reply to one of the notifications you received from us, including the acknowledgment of receipt. This means you do not modify the subject and keep the reference number (starting with "ECCBE") in the subject of all communications. We work with an IT system that gathers all communication and documents in 1 ticket. The case handler assigned to your case will receive a notification of every change. If you do not follow this method, your message might get lost and become a big administrative burden.

Please note: ECC Belgium has limited resources, which we need to carefully dedicate to our tasks. We need your understanding and help to be able to assess and handle the case in the best way.

Do not submit your complaint to different entities, it might obstruct the solution of your problem.

Keep us informed of any evolution in your case, like a solution or a new message related to it. If we are not kept up to date we might use our limited time and resources in vain.

Response Times

• You’ll receive an automatic acknowledgment within one hour of submitting your complaint.
• We aim to provide a substantive response within 14 working days. Complex cases may take up to 1.5 months.
• Mediation cases are typically resolved within 90 days, depending on the responsiveness of both parties.

Note: When you do not hear from us within these given deadlines, contact us by phone with your reference number at hand. We have experienced issues with e-mails not being received in the past.

Quality Charter & Privacy

ECC Belgium adheres to the ECC-Net Quality Charter and respects your privacy rights. We are committed to:

• Professional and helpful service
• Timely and accurate responses
• Transparent handling of your personal data
• Continuous improvement through your feedback

More information on our mission can be found here.