Consumer's Telegram October 2023
Insert of n. 77 - Editorial office: Centro Europeo Consumatori (European Consumer Centre Italy - Bolzano office)LEGAL GUARANTEE
The Guide of the European Consumer Centre
The legal guarantee - as most consumers know - is the right that the consumer can claim against the seller if the goods delivered turn out to be defective or have characteristics that do not comply with the contract. The seller is liable for faults arising within 2 years of delivery of the goods. If the fault appears within the first 12 months after purchase, it is be presumed - until proven otherwise - that it already existed at the time of delivery. The European Consumer Centre (ECC) has prepared a useful guide containing everything you need to know about the legal guarantee. The guide can be found at this link.DIGITAL MARKETS
More Obligations for so-called Gatekeepers
The Regulation of digital markets in the EU provides for some special obligations for so-called gatekeepers. These are companies with a strong economic position and a significant impact on the internal market, which connect a large user base to a large number of companies and which hold a solid and lasting position in the market. Specifically, the European Commission has identified the following companies as gatekeepers: Alphabet (Google), Amazon, Apple, ByteDance (Tiktok), Meta (Facebook, Instagram, Whatsapp) and Microsoft. These can now no longer - among other things - treat their own services and products favourably in terms of classification in comparison to similar services or products offered by third parties on their platform, prevent users from uninstalling pre-installed applications or software if they so wish, or keep track of end-users for advertising purposes outside the core services of the platform, without the prior consent of those concerned. To find out what else gatekeepers must and may no longer do, see the European Commission's website.THE PODCAST OF THE ECC
You can now Listen to the Advice of ECC
The first episode of “UE´ Consumatore”, the brand new ECC podcast is out: a monthly appointment dedicated to Italian and European consumers, which will take listeners on a journey through the themes of consumer law, sustainability and inclusiveness. You can follow us every month on all major platforms.CASE OF THE MONTH
A French consumer had purchased an electric bicycle at a price of 1,079 € from an Italian online retailer. On delivery of the bicycle, however, he had not received an invoice. Since sellers are obliged to always issue an invoice according to French law, even if the purchase was made online, the consumer was convinced he should have received one and asked the seller about it, but received no reply.
Through the European Consumer Centre (ECC) France, ECC Italy was asked to intervene with the seller. The legal advisor of ECC Italy first informed the French colleague that in Italy online shops are not automatically obliged to issue an invoice to private buyers and that the invoice must be requested at the time of the order. However, our Centre wanted to satisfy the consumer by attempting a solution and therefore submitted the French consumer's request to the seller. The seller replied the same day to ECC Italy, stating that they would issue the desired invoice and that he had not previously received any request from the consumer.
In any case, it is good to know that more and more companies are willing to cooperate with consumer centres like ours and find a solution together, to our mutual satisfaction.