Complaining about a seller in another EU country (ECC Spain)

Key rules

• Cost: ECC Spain's help is free.
• No binding decisions: ECC Spain mediates but cannot force a seller to refund you or take your case to court.
• Who is covered: You must live in Spain and have bought for personal use from a seller in another EU country, Norway or Iceland.
• EU platform: The EU online dispute platform closed on 20 July 2025 and has no single replacement.

The short answer

If you live in Spain and have a problem with a seller in another EU country, contact ECC Spain (Centro Europeo del Consumidor en España). It is free. It helps you sort out the dispute, but it cannot force the seller to pay.

What ECC Spain does

ECC Spain is Spain's branch of a Europe-wide network of consumer centres. It works under the Ministry of Consumer Affairs. It will:

• give you free information and advice on your consumer rights in the EU;
• help you with a cross-border dispute;
• contact the seller informally to try to reach an agreement;
• point your case to an out-of-court dispute body (ADR) or to the consumer centre in the seller's country, if that is the better route.

It does not issue binding decisions and it does not represent you in court.

When it applies

ECC Spain can help when both of these are true:

• you live in Spain and bought goods or services for personal use, not for a business;
• the seller is established in another EU country, Norway or Iceland.

Typical cases are online purchases, travel and car rental.

It does not cover:

• sellers in Spain, which are domestic cases. Take those to your local or regional consumer office;
• disputes between businesses;
• sellers outside the network countries.

For sellers in the UK, help since Brexit is limited. Ask ECC Spain what it can do in your case.

The EU online complaints platform has closed

The EU's online dispute resolution platform was shut down on 20 July 2025. No single EU website replaces it. Instead, do this:

1. Write to the seller first and state what you want (refund, repair, replacement). Keep a copy.
2. If the seller is in Spain or you want a Spanish out-of-court route, use a sector dispute body or the Juntas Arbitrales de Consumo, the public consumer arbitration boards.

What to have ready

Gather the order confirmation, proof of payment, your messages with the seller and photos of any fault. This lets ECC Spain assess your case quickly.

The questions below cover common doubts.

Frequently asked questions

Can ECC Spain force a foreign seller to refund me?

No, ECC Spain cannot force a seller to refund you, because it does not issue binding decisions. It mediates informally with the trader and, if that fails, points you to the right out-of-court dispute body or the centre in the seller's country. It also does not represent you in court.

Does ECC Spain help if the seller is based in the UK?

Only to a limited extent, because the UK has been treated separately since Brexit. Sellers in other EU countries, Norway and Iceland are covered fully. For a UK seller, contact ECC Spain first to ask what help is possible.

What if the seller is a Spanish company?

ECC Spain does not handle disputes with Spanish traders, since those are purely domestic cases. Take them to your municipal or regional consumer office instead. The same applies to disputes between businesses, which ECC Spain does not cover.

Is there still an EU online platform for filing a dispute?

No, the EU online dispute resolution platform closed on 20 July 2025 and nothing single replaces it. Contact the seller directly first, then use a national out-of-court body, such as a Junta Arbitral de Consumo in Spain. For a seller in another country, ask ECC Spain.