Consumer's Telegram May 2025

Insert of n. 38 - Editorial office: Centro Europeo Consumatori (European Consumer Centre Italy - Bolzano office)

TRAVEL

Beware of hidden costs when applying for a travel authorisation online

EU citizens, in addition to their passport, need an Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) when travelling on holiday to the UK. The authorisation costs GBP 16 (about EUR 19) and can be obtained via the UK government's special app or via the government website. A similar electronic entry permit is also requested by other countries (including the United States, Canada, New Zealand). In addition to the official websites of the respective governments, numerous agencies (official only in appearance) can be found on the Internet that offer to procure this type of permit. They usually appear much higher in search engines than the official sites and the costs are usually well hidden and much higher than the official rates. In addition, users of such services provide sensitive personal data, such as a passport photo and a portrait of themselves, without any guarantee that they will actually receive the authorisation.

LOSING WEIGHT ONLINE

The ECC warns about the risks associated with medicines and products bought online

Numerous consumers are constantly battling against being overweight and may therefore be inclined to look for quick solutions to lose weight, not least on the Internet. On social media sites, one finds a lot of information that is not always reliable and sometimes even dangerous. This is problematic, as buying food supplements, slimming or purifying products and drugs online can entail serious risks for both health and wallet. For further information on this topic.

JUBILEE 2025

A guide for travellers heading to Rome

The Rome office of the European Consumer Centre Italy has created a digital guide for the Jubilee. The guide is a useful tool for pilgrims and visitors from around the world travelling to Rome in this particular time. It contains an overview of the official event calendar and other useful and interesting information on transport, accommodation, shopping, health, safety and much more. The guide is available in Italian and English.

CASE OF THE MONTH
In the spring of 2024 a Swedish consumer had purchased a ferry ticket from Italy to Albania for his summer holiday. Shortly before the date of travel, he was informed by the Italian shipping company that the journey would be made on a different ship than originally planned and that unfortunately a cabin of the category originally booked was no longer available. He was therefore assigned a cabin of a lower category. Furthermore, on the day of the journey the ferry left and arrived at its destination more than four hours late. The consumer complained, but only received a 40 euro voucher as compensation for the smaller cabin, but no compensation for the delay, which according to the shipping company was just under two hours and therefore within the tolerance period. However, this did not correspond to the facts and the consumer turned to ECC Sweden, which forwarded the case to ECC Italy. After our intervention, the shipping company agreed to pay 25% of the ticket price as compensation for the long delay on arrival, plus another 20% of the ticket price for the delay in responding to the complaint. Finally, even the voucher received for the lower category cabin was reimbursed in monetary form.