Feel like you got ripped off online? This is for you

A new online platform that will resolve problems between European consumers and online retailers will open Saturday.

The online dispute resolution (ODR) service will allow people who have bought goods or services online and then had a problem with them to have their issue resolved through third-party referees and without having to resort to the courts.

The platform will open on Saturday January 9, so that the third parties can get used to the new tool, then the service will become operational on February 15.

It has been a long time coming. The legislation required to create the pan-European service was adopted back in May 2013. The idea is to provide both consumers and traders a way to resolve issues without having to endure the cost and delays of going through the courts.

The Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) Directive covers any sort of product or service purchased online or offline, whether the trader is in the same European country or a different member state of the European Union. Online traders will also be legally obliged to insert a link to the platform on their websites. The only exceptions will be health and higher education products and services.

After the law was passed, the European Commission created an "expert group" of specialists in dispute resolution. They took until March last year to reach a set of procedures and since then, the platform has been being built.

The platform itself will be available in the 23 official languages of the European Union. When a consumer files a complaint, it will be sent to the relevant trader, who will then propose which ADR body takes it on. Once the body is agreed to, the case is handled in a 90-day window and entirely online, according to a factsheet [PDF] on the platform.

The overall goal is to increase confidence in cross-border trading – according to the EU, 60 per cent of European traders do not sell online or to other countries because of what they perceive as the difficulty of doing so. ®