Our Mission
The network of 30 European Consumer Centres (ECCs) empowers consumers to know their rights and to take full advantage of the opportunities the Single Market offers.
How We Accomplish Our Mission
The ECC-Net‘s legal experts assist consumers to solve their cross-border problems free of charge by providing strong legal expertise.
The network offers a unique overview and reliable information about consumer affairs in the Internal Market which can be used for policy making in collaboration with European and national stakeholders.
In Austria the ECC is hosted by the national Consumer Association Verein für Konsumenteninformation (VKI).
For more information about the services of the ECC-Net, please also read our quality charta.
What problems can ECCs help with?
The ECC-Net deals with any cross-border problem between a consumer and a trader within the EU plus Iceland, Norway and the UK.
It covers consumer related issues such as online shopping, shopping abroad, air travel, package travel, passenger rights, timeshare, information on lottery scams and fraudulent online offers, car hire, etc.
- We offer advice on your rights before shopping goods or services in the EU, Norway, Iceland or the UK.
- We offer assistance contacting a foreign trader when you have problems resolving your complaint.
- We offer free help finding a solution with a trader when things go wrong.
- We offer you advice on other ways to deal with the dispute if an amicable solution could not be achieved.
Three preconditions for our intervention:
- Your complaint regards a contract between a consumer and a trader.
- The contract is cross-border within the EU: The consumer lives in Austria and the trader is situated in another EU Member State, Norway, Iceland or the UK.
Please note: The relevant factor is the head office of the company, not its branches or the office of a debt collection agency that acts on behalf of the company. - You verifiably tried to contact the trader yourself at least once in order to reach a solution. Since two weeks or longer, the trader didn't give you a relevant or positive answer or didn't response at all.
About ECC-Net
Free, personalised help for consumers having problems with cross-border purchases in the EU, Iceland, Norway or the UK
The European Consumer Centres Network (ECC-Net) comprises 30 centres in all 28 EU Member States, Iceland, Norway and the UK. These centres offer free and personalised information, advice and assistance to consumers having problems with cross-border transactions in another country within the network.
The network helps citizens to ensure that their consumer rights are respected and help them to reap the benefits of the Single Market.
What problems can't the ECC-Net help with?
The ECC-Net cannot help
- in business to business issues
- if there is no cross-border element involved (national cases)
- if a trader is established outside the EU, Norway, Iceland or the UK
- if the other party is a governmental structure (ministry, national agency, etc.)
The ECC-Net cannot enforce the law and/or apply sanctions on traders and we cannot represent you before a court.
How does ECC-Net work?
Being part of the European Consumer Centres Network (ECC-Net) ECC Austria is assisting both consumers living in Austria when being in a dispute with a trader located in a different EU country, as well as consumers living in another EU member state having troubles with an Austrian trader.
Usually consumers turn to the ECC in their home country.
If you want to receive general information about your legal rights within the Internal Market or ask us for help in solving your dispute ECC Austria offers
- to call our Europa-Hotline: 0043 1 588 77 81 (Monday, Tuesday, Thursday between 09:00 - 13:00)
- to send us an e-mail: info@europakonsument.at
Watch these videos to get to know the ECC-Net!
Data Protection
To enable ECC-Net to provide the above mentioned services to the citizens, an IT tool, the ECC-Net Case Handling IT tool, is used to collect and handle the necessary data. The IT tool is operated by the European Commission. In this respect, personal data is collected and processed from the consumers. Consumers can verify and modify their personal data. They can also introduce a request to block or delete their personal data from the ECC-Net Case Handling IT tool.
Read our complete Privacy Statement (PDF).
