Contact the consumer service

Contact the Citizens Advice consumer service if you need more help with a consumer problem.  For example they can help with things like broken or faulty goods, or problems with energy or post.

You can either:

• call the helpline

• chat to an adviser online

Our advisers can:

• give you practical and impartial advice on how to resolve your consumer problem

• tell you the law which applies to your situation

• pass information about complaints on to Trading Standards (you can’t do this yourself)

• pass a complaint to your energy supplier

However, our advisers can’t make a complaint for you or take legal action on your behalf.

Check what you'll need when you contact the consumer service

Before you contact the consumer service, you should be ready to note down some information.

To help the adviser give you the most relevant advice, you should be ready to give them as much of the following information as you can:

• brief details of your problem, eg when you paid for the item or the service, how much you paid, how you paid for it, whether you did so in a shop or online

• the seller or trader’s name and address

• what you’ve done so far to try to solve the issue

• your reference number (if you’ve already contacted the consumer service about the same problem)

Don’t worry if you don’t have all of this information. You’ll only need to tell the adviser what you know.

Call our consumer helpline

Citizens Advice consumer helpline: 0808 223 1133

Relay UK - if you can't hear or speak on the phone, you can type what you want to say: 18001 then 0808 223 1133

You can use Relay UK with an app or a textphone. There’s no extra charge to use it. Find out how to use Relay UK on the Relay UK website.

Lines are open Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm. Lines are closed on bank holidays.

To contact a Welsh-speaking adviser: 0808 223 1144

An adviser will answer your call as soon as possible, usually within a few minutes. Once you're speaking to an adviser your call should take an average of 8 to 10 minutes.

Calls from mobiles and landlines are free.

Chat with us online

You can talk about your consumer issue with a trained adviser online.

Talk to us about an energy problem

Find out how to chat with us online about an energy problem.

Talk to us about another kind of consumer problem

Chat’s usually available between 9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday - it's not available on public holidays.

We’ll try to help you solve your problem or make good progress towards it. Our chat advisers can’t help with problems about your post, but you can use our online post form instead. 

You can start a chat by clicking the ‘Talk to an adviser’ button - it will appear in the bottom right corner of your screen when an adviser is available. 

If there isn’t a button, this means our advisers are chatting to other people and aren’t available right now.

Using chat

To connect you to the right adviser, we’ll ask you for a few details, including your postcode.

You can read our privacy policy to find out how we store and use your personal information. 

If the helpline and chat aren’t available

You can use one of our online forms to tell us about a consumer issue. Some of the forms are only available at the weekend.

It’s important to use the right form so we can get in touch with you. If you use a different form, we might not be able to help you.

If you have a problem with your gas or electricity

You can use our online form at any time. Use our form to tell us about an energy issue.

If you have a problem with your mail

You can use our online form over the weekend, from 5pm on Fridays to 9am on Mondays. Use our form to tell us about a post issue.

If you have any other consumer problem

You can use our online form over the weekend, from 5pm on Fridays to 9am on Mondays. Use our form to tell us about a general consumer problem.

What we do with your information

We’ll use the information you’ve given us to answer your query. We might contact you to get your feedback on our service.

We’ll also share your information with Trading Standards and other trusted organisations we work with to help their consumer protection work. They could contact you with more advice, or to ask for more information that will help them with their work.

Tell us when you contact the consumer service if you don’t want your information to be shared.

Find out more about how we use, store and share your information.

How to complain

You can make a make a complaint if you're unhappy with the service provided.

Check our behaviour policy

Our staff have the right to do their jobs without being treated badly - find out how we deal with unacceptable behaviour.

As a charity, we rely on your support to help millions of people solve their problems each year. Please donate if you can to help us continue our work.