Advances that facilitate filing of on-line complaints include the efforts of governments committed to the Information Society and development of so-called e-administration, in addition to businesses that provide 24-hour customer service.

 

Consumers already have permanent access to rights-protection organizations via the Internet and web pages where they can report any kind of irregularity. The same applies to people who want to make direct contact with companies that provide goods or services that turn out to be defective, through their corporate web sites. Indeed,
all of Spain's major companies have web pages with a link for filing a complaint. Through a simple email, consumers can immediately express their displeasure. Furthermore, some leading companies engaged in e-trade are adopting codes of good practices to protect consumers with the help of the Internet.

 

The Spanish Health and Consumer Affairs Ministry has set the goal of letting Spaniards file complaints and resolve consumer-related disputes through the Internet with SITAR program (Sistema de Informaci�n sobre Tramitaci�n Arbitral a trav�s de Internet ). Ministry officials say incorporating Internet as a tool available to the average citizen has been made possible by the government's commitment to modernize its service capability. The system is simple. All you have to do is identify yourself and explain your complaint with as much detail as possible, then send it to the new reclamation entity that will be unveiled over the next few months.

 

Last year 70,000 complaints were sent to the Consumer Arbitration system, many of them via Internet. This figure is expected to rise in the next few years as goods and services become more sophisticated and consumers grow more demanding. The 73 consumer arbitration panels that exist in Spain take care of complaints from all consumers, and officials for these panels say the system is a huge success. The arbitration mechanism allows consumers and suppliers of goods and services to reach satisfactory agreements, in terms of both time and money, out of court. The European Union itself admitted five years ago that traditional judicial procedures for filing complaints were not the best for satisfying consumers. It urged member countries to create a body of organizations for extra-judicial resolution of these disputes.

 

Development of e-trade in Spain is another factor encouraging complaints filed over the Internet. In fact, in a global market with constant technological innovation, consumers need to operate with maximum guarantees of protection and ways to avert or resolve commercial disputes.