When ECC Italy can help you

ECC Italy’s assistance is available to consumers resident in Italy.

If you are resident in another EU country, Iceland or Norway, you should contact the European Consumer Centre in your country of residence.

The ECC’s competence is determined by the consumer’s country of residence and the cross-border nature of the dispute, and not by the consumer’s nationality.

ECC Italy can assist where a consumer resident in Italy has a dispute with a trader established in another EU country, Iceland or Norway.

ECC Italy cannot assist with:

• disputes with traders established in Italy;
• disputes between consumers and businesses established outside the European Union, Iceland or Norway;
• disputes concerning purchases made for professional or business purposes (B2B transactions).

In these cases, we recommend contacting the relevant competent authorities or organisations.

Before contacting ECC Italy, you must have submitted a complaint directly to the trader, preferably in writing, and kept a copy of your communication and the relevant supporting documents.

It is important to give the trader the opportunity to examine and resolve the issue before requesting our assistance.

If the trader does not reply or its response does not resolve the dispute, you may contact ECC Italy and attach the documentation relating to the complaint you have already submitted.

ECC Italy’s service is free of charge, and our staff will assess requests within the limits of their areas of competence and the resources available.

We therefore ask you to communicate with our staff in a polite, respectful and objective manner.

Messages containing offensive, threatening or aggressive language may result in the closure of your request for assistance.

To enable us to understand the issue quickly, your request should include a clear and chronological description of the facts.

Please:

• briefly describe what happened, indicating, where possible, the order, purchase, payment, delivery, complaint and trader’s response;
• attach the relevant documents in chronological order;
• provide the correspondence exchanged with the trader, including the date, sender and recipient;
• attach orders, invoices, proof of payment, contractual terms and any other documents relevant to the assessment of your case.

Please submit the documents supporting your complaint as separate, clearly named PDF files. Screenshots must be complete and legible and should make it possible to identify at least the date and the parties involved in the communication.

Please avoid submitting only screenshots without any chronological order or explanation of the facts. Given the high number of requests received by ECC Italy, our case-handlers cannot reconstruct the chronology of a case from a collection of images.

For security reasons, ZIP files cannot be opened.

You may use online tools and artificial intelligence systems to obtain preliminary information about your situation. However, please bear in mind that such tools may provide information that is inaccurate, incomplete or not applicable to your specific case.

The assessment provided by ECC Italy is based on the applicable legislation, relevant legal sources and the professional assessment of our experts.

Our staff are available to explain the reasons for their assessment. However, it is not possible to engage in a debate or dispute based on legal interpretations generated by artificial intelligence systems or information found online.

To enable us to handle your request as effectively as possible, we ask you to:

• respond to our requests for information or documents;
• promptly inform us of any developments concerning the dispute;
• let us know if you have reached an agreement with the trader in the meantime or if the dispute has otherwise been resolved.

The consumer’s cooperation is essential for ECC Italy to carry out its work effectively.

The European Consumer Centre Italy is not a public authority, supervisory body or enforcement authority.

ECC Italy has no coercive powers over traders and cannot require them to refund a sum of money, compensate for a loss or fulfil a legal or contractual obligation.

Our role is to facilitate dialogue between consumers and traders and to promote an amicable resolution of disputes. The outcome of the procedure therefore also depends on the trader’s willingness to cooperate.

Contacting ECC Italy does not constitute mandatory mediation and does not replace any court proceedings or other legal remedies available under applicable law.

For this reason, ECC Italy’s intervention does not suspend or interrupt any applicable limitation or statutory time limits relating to your dispute.

If the deadline for exercising a right is approaching, please do not wait for the outcome of our assistance. Take the necessary steps to protect your rights in good time, including, where appropriate, by contacting a lawyer or the competent authority or body.