Many unanswered questions

Floods also kept consumer advocates on their toes

The flood and its consequences brought a flood of inquiries to consumer protection agencies.

(Bild: Imre Antal)

Lower Austrians are often most worried about their own four walls. Especially when their belongings are also washed away by the flood. In any case, the great flood in the fall of last year also kept consumer advocates busy. 

First the good news. The "pro Kosument" association - set up by the Chamber of Labor and the state - has been providing people in Niederreich with advice and support on a wide range of unanswered questions for more than two decades. AK President Markus Wieser and Susanne Rosenkranz, the provincial councillor responsible for consumer protection, have now extended this cooperation for another year.

More than 14,000 inquiries
The importance of such a contact point is shown by last year's "pro Konsument" balance sheet. "People seeking advice contacted the association's experts 14,103 times," reports its chairwoman Bettina Heise. Particularly when it came to problems in the areas of housing, digitalization and leisure, as well as banking and insurance, those affected often did not know how to help themselves.

Extending the cooperation with "por Kosument": Wieser. Rosenkranz, Heise.

(Bild: NLK Burchhart)

Flood and insolvency
Most of the inquiries were caused by the flood. On the one hand, they concerned questions about replacement apartments or rent reductions, and on the other, the financial burdens resulting from the flood. "The enormous damage caused by the floods showed that many people are inadequately insured," summarizes Heise. The Kika/Leiner insolvency also raised many consumer protection issues, particularly in connection with advance payments. The "classic" topics were dominated by Internet scams, problems with parcel services and dream vacations that turned into nightmares.