You are in > manchester.com  > News > Euro complaints centre launched

Finance

Euro complaints centre launched

14/11/2007

A new centre has been launched in the UK to enable consumers to complain about substandard products or services purchase from European traders.

The government-supported UK European Consumer Centre (UK ECC), one of 27 coordinated by the European Commission across the continent, is being set up to resolve "cross-border disputes".

According to the Trading Standards Institute (TSI), which is hosting the UK ECC's launch at its Basildon headquarters, the centre will help to settle complaints about online shopping, internet auctions, flights and holidays.

TSI chief executive Ron Gainsford said the UK ECC would also help to raise consumer rights awareness.

"We are seeing dramatic growth in the number of people buying goods and services from companies and traders based abroad, particularly through online shops, internet auctions and online airlines," he said.

"It is vital those consumers understand their rights and have somewhere to turn for specialist help in the event of a dispute. The UK European Consumer Centre here at TSI will provide the capacity and expertise to help consumers to get redress when problems arise."

Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR) minister Gareth Thomas added that consumers should be mindful of their rights when shopping within Europe.

"Everyone deserves the opportunity of getting the best deals available across Europe, confident in the knowledge that if something goes wrong there are effective ways of handling complaints and getting redress," Mr Thomas explained.

"A major advantage of the new centre is that it can call on its locally-based counterparts across Europe for assistance when incidents occur."