Online shoppers get dispute resolution service

Consumers buying goods or services online from today have a way to resolve any disputes that should be free and painless.

The company handling the Irish and British end of this EU platform hopes to build it into a multinational one, employing around 30 people over the next year or so.

Surveys show that people do not shop as much on the internet as they would like, especially from other EU countries, because they fear being left with inferior goods or services and with no way of recovering their money.

The EU has just launched the online platform to help consumers get redress even if they do not speak the seller’s language.

However, the new alternative dispute resolution system is based on the seller agreeing to take part, and paying for the service — around €100 a case.

The person heading up the operation in Dublin, Charles McLaughlin, said retailers usually see it as a cheaper alternative than going to court.

And while under the EU rules, disputes must be resolved within at most 90 days, he says they plan to offer a much faster service.

Their parent in the US, DeMars, can turn around a complaint with 48 to 72 hours, he said.

Set up as NetNeutrals.eu in Dublin it will also manage the UK office, employing 20 staff within three years with others employed on a case by case basis.

Mr McLaughlin said it is planning to set up similar operations in Spain, France, and Germany and believes it it will not be difficult to recruit multilingual staff in Ireland. Whatever resolution it offers is not legally binding and seller and buyer are free to take the case further, but the trader would have to pay a higher fee at that stage.

The service and company will be officially launched tomorrow by the entrepreneur who set up the parent company in the US, Jo DeMars. One of the areas the company manages in the US is complaints connected with Ebay.

Mr McLaughlin, who has worked in Dublin in IT for various companies for the past two decades is also a trained mediator, said, “It offers fabulous potential”.

Launching the multilingual platform, consumers commissioner Vera Jourová said consumers who buy online often do not complain because they believe the procedure is too long and will not be resolved.