Consumer complaint in Portugal: reclamação and escalation

Quick answer

Send the company a dated, written complaint (reclamação) with your customer or order number, the facts, the remedy you want and a deadline for a reply. The official Livro de Reclamações (complaints book) is a separate channel: a complaint in the electronic book must be answered within 15 working days, while a paper complaint sheet goes to the regulator, and only essential public services must also reply to you within that time. New movable goods carry a three-year legal guarantee. Disputes up to €5,000, and disputes with essential public services, go to arbitration the company cannot refuse if you choose it. Regulators can fine a company but do not award you compensation.

This guide covers consumer complaints to companies in Portugal and the bodies that deal with them. It is general information, not legal advice. To end a subscription, see our guide to cancelling a contract in Portugal; to demand money already due, see payment demands in Portugal. Tenancies and insurance have their own guides: tenant letters and cancelling insurance.

What to put in a reclamação

Use the complaints address in your contract, on your bill or on the company’s website. Give your full name, address, customer, contract or order number, the invoice number and date, and your NIF (Portuguese tax number) if the company uses it. Set out the facts in order, earlier contacts with their dates and reference numbers, and exactly what you want: a repair, a replacement, a corrected bill or a refund of a stated amount. Enclose copies, never originals. No law sets a reply deadline for a general complaint letter, so the deadline in your letter is your own choice; it runs from receipt (artigo 224.º do Código Civil).

Keep the bracketed sentence on faulty goods only if it fits, and replace every placeholder. The example claims no compensation you have not checked.

Assunto: Reclamação — [n.º de cliente, de encomenda ou de contrato]

Exmos. Senhores,

Venho, pela presente, apresentar reclamação relativa a [produto, serviço ou fatura] ([n.º de encomenda ou de fatura e respetiva data]).

Em [data], [descrição breve e objetiva dos factos]. Contactei os vossos serviços em [data], através de [meio utilizado] (referência [número, se existir]), sem que a situação tenha sido resolvida.

[Se se tratar de um bem com falta de conformidade: O bem foi entregue em [data de entrega] e apresenta a falta de conformidade acima descrita, que me confere os direitos previstos nos artigos 12.º e 15.º do Decreto-Lei n.º 84/2021.]

Solicito, assim, [pedido concreto: a reparação ou a substituição do bem, a correção da fatura ou o reembolso de [montante] euros]. Junto cópia dos seguintes documentos: [lista].

Agradeço uma resposta por escrito no prazo de [número] dias a contar da receção desta carta, para [morada ou endereço de e-mail].

Com os melhores cumprimentos, [Nome completo] [Morada]

The Livro de Reclamações

Every business open to the public must keep a paper Livro de Reclamações and hand it over at once, free, without asking for ID; if it refuses, you can call the police (PSP or GNR) to record the refusal (art. 3.º DL n.º 156/2005). All businesses must also accept complaints in the electronic book at livroreclamacoes.pt, which has the same validity (art. 2.º).

• Electronic book: the business must reply to you by e-mail within 15 working days, unless a special law sets a shorter period (art. 5.º-B).
• Paper book: you keep the duplicate sheet; within 15 working days the business sends the original to the competent regulator, with any reply already sent (art. 5.º). Only essential public services, such as electricity, gas, water, phone and post, must also reply to you within 15 working days (art. 3.º).

The regulator can ask for explanations and fine the business, but does not decide your dispute (art. 6.º). Using the book does not stop you complaining by letter or e-mail (art. 13.º). A posted letter is not a Livro de Reclamações entry: from abroad, use the electronic book.

Faulty goods: the three-year guarantee

For movable goods bought from a business under a contract from 1 January 2022, the seller is liable for any lack of conformity that appears within three years of delivery (art. 12.º DL n.º 84/2021); for used goods, the contract may cut this to 18 months. A defect appearing within two years is presumed to have existed at delivery; if the guarantee for used goods was shortened to 18 months, that presumption lasts one year (art. 13.º). Report it by letter, e-mail or any other means you can prove. You choose repair or replacement, then a price reduction or termination (art. 15.º); within 30 days of delivery, you can demand immediate replacement or termination (art. 16.º). A repair should normally take no more than 30 days (art. 18.º), and after termination the refund is due within 14 days of your notice, though the seller may withhold it until the goods are returned or you prove dispatch, unless it must collect them (art. 20.º). Your rights lapse two years after you report the defect (art. 17.º). Contracts concluded before 1 January 2022 follow the old DL n.º 67/2003.

If the company does not reply

Send a short follow-up that refers to your first letter, then escalate. Sector regulators, such as ANACOM (communications), ERSE (energy), the Banco de Portugal and the ASF (insurance), take complaints and can sanction companies but do not award compensation. ERSE expects you to have complained to the supplier first and to have had no satisfactory answer within 15 working days.

Consumer arbitration centres, listed by the Direção-Geral do Consumidor (DGC), offer mediation and arbitration, usually free, with a decision within 90 days of a complete file (art. 10.º Lei n.º 144/2015). A company cannot refuse arbitration of a consumer dispute up to €5,000 that you expressly choose (art. 14.º Lei n.º 24/96), or of a dispute with an essential public service (art. 15.º Lei n.º 23/96). A centre may refuse your case if you did not first contact the company (art. 11.º Lei n.º 144/2015). Julgados de Paz (small-claims courts) hear claims up to €15,000, with a fee of €70 paid by the losing party, or €25 each if settled in mediation; they cannot hear actions to enforce a money obligation under a standard-form contract, and whether a consumer’s refund claim falls under that exclusion is unsettled (art. 9.º Lei n.º 78/2001). If you live in another EU country, the European Consumer Centres network, including the Centro Europeu do Consumidor Portugal (CEC Portugal), can help.

The follow-up below refers to your first complaint and does not replace it. Name the arbitration centre that covers your case; the DGC’s list and simulator help you find it.

Assunto: Insistência na reclamação de [data] — [n.º de cliente, de encomenda ou de contrato]

Exmos. Senhores,

Em [data], apresentei uma reclamação relativa a [assunto], através de [meio utilizado], cuja cópia junto, bem como [comprovativo de envio ou de entrega].

Até à data, não recebi qualquer resposta. [Em alternativa: A resposta de [data] não aborda [ponto concreto].]

Reitero o pedido então formulado: [pedido concreto]. A presente carta refere-se à reclamação acima indicada e não a substitui.

Na falta de resposta satisfatória até [data], apresentarei reclamação no Livro de Reclamações eletrónico e submeterei o litígio a [centro de arbitragem de conflitos de consumo competente].

Com os melhores cumprimentos, [Nome completo] [Morada]

Post your letter and keep evidence

Upload your final PDF or write the letter in MaisonMail, and add copies of your evidence. The recipient address determines the destination; available services, estimated delivery and the final price appear before payment. No law requires registered post for a complaint; the DGC advises a channel that leaves proof, such as a carta registada com aviso de receção (registered letter with acknowledgement of receipt) or an e-mail with a read receipt. MaisonMail sends standard and tracked letters to Portugal, not registered post; you can also send the same text by e-mail. If your contract names a complaints channel, use it too. Keep a copy of the exact letter and attachments. Tracking shows that an item was delivered, not what the envelope contained.