ONLINE BUSINESS: EUROPEAN CONSUMER COMPLAINTS INCREASING STEADILY.

Centres such as the one in Kehl have sprung up across Europe in the last few years following an EU Directive adopted in 2000. They offer help and advice to consumers who feel that they have received poor service in any EU member state, and their role is to facilitate cross-border litigation settlements by means of mediation, thus helping consumers to avoid the potentially high cost of such trans-national lawsuits.

According to Mr Walter, online business related complaints received by his centre have grown by 40% in one year, from 590 in 2003 to 831 last year, while online transactions increased by 74% in Germany and 60% in France during the same period, representing euro 22.3 million and about 7 billion respectively.

Clients complain about purchases that never arrive, or that arrive damaged or that do not match the presentation on the internet. The tourist sector in general, and package holidays in particular, are another area of complaints from internet shoppers.

Lawyers from the centres work closely with national consumer protection organisations, which will often institute legal proceedings if mediation fails. As an example of how clients can be helped, Euro-Info Consumers highlighted the case of someone from the French overseas...