Press Release: Safer shopping : European Consumer Centres help 71,000 EU shoppers in 2010

Have you ever had problems getting a faulty product replaced or repaired, or getting a refund and assistance from the airline when your flight was cancelled? If you bought the product or service from a trader based in another EU country (as well as Norway or Iceland), a European Consumer Centre (ECC) in your country is there to help. In 2010, the ECC network (ECC-Net) provided free help and advice in over 71,000 consumer cases, up by 15% compared to 2009, according to the network's 2010 annual report. One in three complaints concerned transport, of which almost 60% were about air travel (partly due to the volcanic ash crisis). More than half of the complaints handled concerned online purchases.