Baggage destroyed by an Italian airline, a hotel room in Greece without air conditioning, defective goods bought from a German online store — such are the problems consumers confront in today’s market, and a few of the many the European Consumer Centre (ECC) has been assisting consumers to resolve for 10 years now.

This year will mark the tenth since the European Consumer Centre Network (ECC-Net) was created. The centres are located in all 28 member states of the EU, Norway and Iceland. Poland’s Centre is co-financed by the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection (UOKiK) and the European Commission.

Poland’s ECC offers free legal and organisational assistance to Polish consumers who encounter problems with foreign businesses. It also helps resolve disputes between Polish businesses and the citizens of the other thirty countries where the network operates. Because the services the network offers are so challenging, calling for swift and effective measures, the ECC uses simplified procedures and electronic communications, including online complaint forms and mobile applications.

Over the last 10 years Poland’s ECC has helped resolve more than 21,000 cases. More than half have concerned problems involving passenger transport services. Consumers have most frequently lodged complaints about problems with German and British enterprises, which lead trans-border sales in Europe. More than two thirds of complaints received today by all the centers of ECC-Net apply to contracts concluded by electronic means.

“Thanks to the European Consumer Centre Network, consumers have gained confidence that transactions can be made safely, regardless of whether the company with whom they are conducting them is based in the Czech Republic, Great Britain or Norway,” said UOKiK Vice-President Dorota Karczewska.

“European consumers may in fact save a lot of money shopping through the network in other countries of the community. At the same time, businesses operating in the e-commerce sector gain new customers, cross-border exchange is picking up, and the level of competition is increasing.” she added.

Additional information for the media:

Press Office, UOKiK
Pl. Powstańców Warszawy 1, 00-950 Warsaw
Phone.: +48 22 827 28 92, +48 22 55 60 314, +48 22 55 60 430
E-mail: [SCODE]Yml1cm9wcmFzb3dlQHVva2lrLmdvdi5wbA==[ECODE]