What ECC-Net can do for you

Help and Advice for cross-border issues in the EU, Iceland and Norway

Our mandate is to deliver free information, advice and assistance on cross-border shopping in the EU, Iceland and Norway.

We can:

  • Advise you on consumer rights for shopping and travel under EU and national law;
  • Give practical tips to help you save money and avoid problems;
  • Help you with a complaint against a trader based in another EU country, Iceland or Norway for purchases made abroad – physically or online;
  • Engage with the trader in order to try to resolve the problem;
  • Advise you on further action if an amicable solution is not possible, such as out-of-court settlements, the European Small Claims’ procedure, or other legal action;
  • Help you find a suitable organisation to handle your case if it needs to be taken further.

We cannot:

  • Force traders to act. We rely on persuasion which works in at least half of the cases;
  • Act as your legal representative;
  • Handle your complaint if one of the involved parties is outside of the EU, Norway and Iceland.

The most frequent issues that ECC-Net deal with:

  • Online shopping, covering cooling-off periods, delivery times, clear information and the 2-year legal guarantee;
  • Buying goods and services including the 2-year guarantee, rights to repairs, replacements and refunds and the non-discrimination principle;
  • Air passenger rights related to cancellations, delays and related assistance, denial of boarding and lost or damaged luggage;
  • Package travel rights to information, to transfer a package to someone else, to a guaranteed price, and to choose an alternative package or a refund if the content changes;
  • Car rental problems such as unclear information on prices and costs of optional extras, and unfair contract terms;
  • Timeshares/holiday clubs, including the right to receive all relevant information before signing a contract, cooling-off periods and related payment rules.

Since 2018, the ECC-Net has a Quality Charter. Read about our commitment and what you can expect from us.