Flights have long been at the forefront of consumer contacts to the European Consumer Centre Finland, but in 2024, services purchased online were the top subject. Last year, the ECC Finland received a total of 2,516 contacts from consumers living in Finland. In most cases, consumers experienced problems with German, Dutch, Swedish or Latvian companies. However, flights remained the most common topic in mediation cases where the European Consumer Centre helps resolve disputes by contacting the company in question.
The European Consumer Centre Finland provides advice and mediation assistance in situations where Finnish consumers have a cross-border problem with a trader in another EU country, Norway or Iceland. European Consumer Centres also cooperate with the UK International Consumer Centre.
The European Consumer Centres Network (ECC-Net) received more than 133,000 contacts from European consumers in 2024. The network has offices in 29 countries in Europe. More detailed annual statistics from the network will be published during the spring.
No change in the total number from Finland
In 2024, the total number of contacts (2,516) remained at the same level in Finland as in the previous year (2,502). Of the contacts received, 1,792 were enquiries in which the consumer’s case was investigated and instructions were issued. Of these contacts, 31% concerned services purchased online and 17% regarded flights. Other product groups follow with relatively small percentages, as women’s clothing accounted for 4% as the third largest product group, for example.
In contacts regarding services purchased online, common issues included car price assessment services (Latvia), subscription termination services and CV services (the Netherlands) and health assessment services (Hungary). In these cases, consumers had often received a surprise bill. Mediation of the cases was often not possible, as it has been difficult to contact the companies in question or they have not been willing to negotiate disputes.
The number of mediation cases increased
In 2024, Finnish consumers filed 724 cases that progressed to mediation. This was 9% more than in the previous year. 29% of these complaints concerned flights, especially flight delays and cancellations. 11% of the complaints concerned services purchased online, such as subscription termination, CV and dating services.
The aim of mediation is to find an amicable solution to the dispute between a Finnish consumer and a foreign company. 46% of the 623 mediation cases completed in 2024 ended with a full settlement and 6% with a partial settlement. 22% of the cases were not resolved because the trader did not accept the consumer’s claim, and in 13% of the cases, the trader did not respond to the European Consumer Centre of another country or the trader could not be reached. In addition, in 4% of the cases, the parties finally found a solution independently. Some mediation cases opened in 2024 will only be resolved during 2025 or later in some cases.
Customer feedback was mainly positive
At the end of the case handling process, we send a feedback survey to our customers. In 2024, we received 318 responses to the survey from our customers. As in previous years, customer satisfaction remained high in Finland. 93% of the respondents reported that they were satisfied with the service they received. 79% were very satisfied, and 14% said they were satisfied. In addition, 3% were fairly satisfied and only 3% reported to be dissatisfied with the service they received.
The open feedback we received was very positive overall: customers appreciated the efficiency and expertise of the service. Improvement suggestions mainly concerned raising awareness of the service, so that more consumers could find our free-of-charge services, and strengthening consumer protection. We use the feedback received to develop our operations.