The European Union has created a website to support consumers when submitting complaints about any dispute in which they are involved. In this context, we provide all the information you need to exercise your right to complain to an official entity, third party impartial to the process, (“dispute resolution entity”) that will help you resolve the dispute. Therefore, if you are dissatisfied with the purchase of our services, or with the solution we present to resolve the situation, you can access the official European website and state your objection.
What is Alternative Dispute Resolution?
Alternative dispute resolution is the possibility that all consumers have at their disposal to appeal to official entities that help them in the resolution, or guidance of any conflict, before opening litigious proceedings in the courts.
As a general rule, the procedure is as follows: the customer asks an impartial third party to act as an intermediary between them and the trader who is the target of their complaint. The intermediary can suggest a solution to the complaint, impose a solution for both parties, or bring the parties together to find a solution. Alternative dispute resolution is less expensive, less formal and faster than the judicial route.
In the event of a consumer dispute, the consumer may resort to the alternative resolution body in Portugal for consumer disputes: CNIACC – National Center for Information and Arbitration of Consumer Disputes