Europe Day is celebrated 9th of May each year. On that date in 1950 Robert Schuman, then the foreign minister of France, presented a declaration proposing the creation of a European Coal and Steel Community – which you could say was the beginning of The European Union.
The European Union has for example proposed multiple legislation to protect consumers in Europe.
Below is a video showing some of the legislation from the EU
The European Consumer Centres Network issues a warning over scam emails using ECC names and logos. The emails state the recipient has fallen victim to a fraudulent broker and claim to offer help. These emails are fake and were not sent by an ECC-Net office. Have you received a suspicious email? Read about what you can do.
What to look out for
Cybercriminals use phishing emails to ‘fish’ for sensitive information and to steal money. A recent fake email states the recipient has fallen victim to a fraudulent broker based in Cyprus. The email claims to offer help in retrieving the lost investment and asks the recipient to provide details of a bank transaction. The email may also include a fake ‘contract’, which states that the recipient of the email is liable to pay a sum of money in certain cases.
The recent fake email uses names and personal details of employees of the European Consumer Centre in Cyprus. The emails also use ECC and European Union logos. ECC Cyprus has filed a report with the Cyprus police, who are investigating the case.
Important information
Actions you can take
Have you spotted a suspicious email? Do not respond to the email, click on any links or open any attachments. Find the official contact details for your local European Consumer Centre and contact them. Your local ECC will be able to tell you whether an email is genuine and can help warn other consumers about the scam email if necessary.
From customisable jewellery to real leather belts and life experience boxes, Valentine's Day gift ideas are flourishing on the Internet. But there is only one step from love to purchase and from purchase to scam. To avoid being hit in the heart by an arrow other than cupid's, the European Consumer Centre Iceland delivers useful advice.
Beware of dropshipping sites to buy a gift for Valentine's Day
If you've spotted the perfect gift on the Internet, thanks in particular to the advice of influencers, beware! It may be sold on a dropshipping site.
Dropshipping is when an online seller presents a product, takes and collects the order and then pays the manufacturer, often based in Asia, to deliver the product directly to the buyer. While this practice is legal in Iceland, it often leads to unpleasant surprises. Delivery times can be very long, the product delivered might be of poor quality or even counterfeit and you may even have to pay customs fees to receive your order.
To avoid falling into the dropshipping trap, it is best to check the seriousness of the seller, read the general conditions and compare prices with other sites before ordering.
Be sure before buying a personalised gift online
Although in principle you always have 14 days to change your mind after a distance purchase, there are exceptions. These exceptions include the purchase of products that you have asked to be personalised or a leisure service on a specific date.
So think twice before ordering a bracelet engraved with your sweetheart’s first name or a phone case with a photo of your date or a concert ticket for your loved one’s favourite band. It will be impossible to return it to the seller and ask for a refund.
Neytendur er greitt hafa með greiðslukorti fyrir vöru eða þjónustu sem var eða mun ekki vera veitt, eiga endurkröfurétt (e. chargeback) ef ástæðu vanefnda má rekja til seljanda. Þetta á t.d við ef flugi eða pakkaferð er aflýst af hálfu seljanda.
Korthafi þarf einungis að sýna fram á það að vara eða þjónustu hafi ekki verið eða verði ekki afhent til að eiga endurkröfurétt. Samkvæmt kortafyrirtækjum á þetta þó ekki við um greiðslur til ferðaskrifstofa er komnar eru í þrot. í þeim tilfellum þarf fyrst að sækja endurgreiðslu úr tryggingarsjóði ferðaskrifstofa. Neytandi þarf þá að sýna fram á að hann hafi sótt um endurgreiðslu og verið hafnað að hluta eða öllu leyti til að eiga rétt á endurgreiðslu frá viðkomandi kortafyrirtæki.
Gæta þarf að því að sækja þarf um endurkröfu innan 120 daga frá því að staðfest er að vara eða þjónustu verður ekki afhent. Sótt er um endurgreiðslu hjá útgefanda kortsins sem í flestum tilvikum er banki.
The office of ECC-Iceland will be closed on the following dates:
23th of December
24th of December
31st of December
On other dates normal office opening. You can always send us an email to ecc@ecciceland.is, where we will answer at the earliest opportunity..
The European Consumer Centres Network (ECC-Net)’s brand new website, eccnet.eu, provides information on all relevant issues and dilemmas for European consumers. An international team of ECC-Net members from the Netherlands, Ireland, Sweden, Italy, Cyprus and Germany worked together to produce a hub of consumer rights information and the best user-friendly digital platform to learn about your consumer entitlements in the EU and EEA.
The European Consumer Centre Network (ECC-Net) offers European consumers advice on their consumer rights and legal protections when shopping and travelling in another European Union Member State or European Economic Area country. Head over to the website for practical guidance on how to exercise your consumer rights and where to turn to for help when something goes wrong
How we help
We will assist by trying to find an amicable out-of-court solution to a consumer-business dispute by liaising directly with the business you have a problem with. We will ensure that you are informed of your rights and receive expert assistance in your language.
Contact us
Á heimasíðunni, eccnet.euAlongside a wealth of information, at eccnet.eu you will find the contact details of all European Consumer Centres in the EU and selected EEA countries - Norway and Iceland - where you can get in touch with a question or to submit a complaint about a cross-border business.
Many people (young and older) purchase advent calendar to countdown to Christmas.
Many people (young and older) purchase advent calendar to countdown to Christmas. The ECC-Net has made their own calendar where we will publish information about consumer rights. The Calendar is available on ECC-Iceland´s Twitter account, that can be found here:
The Annual report for the year 2020 has been published and can be found here. here.
ECC-Iceland received a record high number of cases in the year 2020, which can in most part be explained due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the impact it had on travel.
Further information is provided by Ívar Halldórsson, director of ECC-Iceland.
Czech Airlines have now been declared bankrupt by the court in Prague. Consumers have until 10th of may to declare their claims against the airline.
The consumers that have a claim to the airline (for example refund of cancelled flights) can send their claims by letter mail to the address:
Městský soud v Praze
pracoviště Slezská 9
120 00 Praha 2
Česká republika
They can also send the claim via email with a certified electrical signature to the address: podatelna@msoud.pha.justice.cz
According to the rules in The Czech Republic, foreign claims must describe, reason and show their financial claims in the the Czech languageTherefore consumers cannot send a claim in English for example.
To make consumers easier to file a complaint against the bankrupt estate, ECC-CZ has made a form that consumers can use. In one form information has been prewritten regarding the company and consumers must only fill out the columns that are missing. In the other form there is a model and English description of what information is needed in each column. You can get the form hereModel– English translation).
It is worth to mention that we do not know what the financial situation is with the airline or how likely/unlikely it is that anything will be paid in general claims.
If we receive further information from our colleagues in The Czech Republic, we will put further information on our website.
Framkvæmdastjórn Evrópusambandsins hefur nú hleypt af stað herferðinni „Þín framtíð. Þitt val“ (Your future. Your choice).
Átakið felur í sér birtingu á fjórum myndböndum sem eiga að stuðla að því að neytendur innan Evrópusambandsins, í Noregi og á Íslandi taki betur upplýstar ákvarðanir í hinum ýmsu neytendamálum. Átakinu er hleypt af stað í dag, á Alþjóðadegi neytendaréttar sem haldinn er hátíðlegur um allan heim þann 15. mars ár hvert.
COVID-19 heimsfaraldurinn hefur sýnt að stafrænar lausnir geta boðið upp á mikla möguleika fyrir fyrirtæki og neytendur, en einnig eru ýmsar hættur sem þar geta leynst svo sem svikastarfsemi. Heimsfaraldurinn hefur einnig stuðlað að aukinni þörf fyrir bættu fjármálalæsi.
Hægt er að sjá myndböndin hér að neðan, en þau skiptast eftir flokkunum Netöryggi, Fjármálalæsi, Gagnavernd og Sjálfbær neysla. Hægt er að kynna sér herferðina nánar á eftirfarandi hlekk:
English 
Icelandic