Forbrugerklagenævnet: How a Complaint Over an Influencer-Recommended Product Actually Gets Handled

A complaint about a product an influencer recommended follows Denmark's ordinary consumer-complaint route: the consumer complains to the business first, then to Mæglingsteamet for Forbrugerklager (the Mediation Team), and finally to Forbrugerklagenævnet (the Consumer Complaints Board) if the item cost between 1,220 kr and 100,000 kr (790 kr for clothing and shoes). The complaint is against the business that sold the product — not the influencer who merely recommended it. A complaint that the collaboration wasn't disclosed as an ad belongs somewhere else entirely: with Forbrugerombudsmanden, the Consumer Ombudsman.

This is practical guidance from Make Influence, not legal advice. Use it to understand where a complaint about a campaign actually ends up, and what that means for you as a brand — get a specific case assessed by a lawyer or directly by Nævnenes Hus (the Danish Board of Appeal).

Step one: the consumer must complain to the business first

Neither Mæglingsteamet for Forbrugerklager nor Forbrugerklagenævnet will take a case before the consumer has tried to resolve it directly with the business the product was bought from. That holds regardless of whether an influencer recommended the product in a sponsored post — the recommendation doesn't change who the seller is, and therefore who the complaint is against.

Who the complaint is actually against: the business, not the influencer

This is a distinction many brands overlook: Mæglingsteamet for Forbrugerklager and Forbrugerklagenævnet handle disputes between a buyer and the business the buyer entered a purchase agreement with. An influencer who recommended or promoted a product without being the seller isn't a party to that dispute — liability for the product itself sits with the business that sold it, not the person who showed it on camera. That lines up with the broader liability split covered in who is liable for a defective product an influencer recommended: an influencer who simply recommends a product doesn't, as a rule, carry product liability for it. The exception is when the influencer is the seller — for example through their own webshop or a co-branded product line — in which case the complaint runs against the influencer's own business.

How the complaint process actually works, step by step

Price thresholds: when the case can be handled at all

Not every complaint qualifies — there's a price threshold, regardless of whether the product was found via an influencer or on the consumer's own:

Even inside that range, several purchase types are excluded from the system entirely: private-to-private sales, business-to-business (B2B) purchases, purchases from a seller with no permanent place of business or equivalent in Denmark, real-estate purchases, healthcare services, and publicly funded education.

What happens if the business doesn't comply with a decision?

A Forbrugerklagenævnet decision isn't automatically enforceable like a court judgment from day one. The decision first has to be formally served on the business — which alone can take up to three months — after which the business has 30 days to state whether it will comply. There are, in practice, three outcomes:

• The business agrees, or stays passive: the decision is binding. If the business still doesn't pay, the consumer can get help from fogedretten (the enforcement court) to collect the amount, without the case being reheard from scratch.
• The business actively refuses to comply: the decision is not binding, and fogedretten can't be used. The consumer instead has to bring an ordinary lawsuit through the courts — the board itself can neither impose fines nor otherwise compel the business. Nævnenes Hus can help the consumer bring the case to court, and in some cases can cover legal costs if the consumer has no legal-expenses insurance.

A business that doesn't comply with a decision within the deadline can also be added to Nævnenes Hus's public list, "Firmatjek" — for up to a year after the business has been warned in writing that non-compliance will be published.

When the complaint belongs with Forbrugerombudsmanden instead

Forbrugerklagenævnet and Forbrugerombudsmanden solve two different kinds of problems, and the mix-up happens often precisely in influencer contexts, because a single campaign can generate both types of complaint at once:

The disclosure rules themselves are covered in influencer marketing disclosure rules: Denmark and EU. The takeaway here: a complaint about product quality and a complaint about missing disclosure are two different cases, handled by two different authorities — and sending one to the wrong one doesn't resolve it.

Make Influence's operational perspective: why brands should know this distinction

We regularly see brands unsure who actually carries the liability when a consumer complains about a product from an influencer campaign. In practice the answer is simple as long as the influencer isn't the seller: a complaint about the product itself goes to your business as the seller, not to the influencer, and your customer service should be prepared to receive it — regardless of whether the product was found through a store, an ad or a sponsored post. That's a good reason to have your influencer contract explicitly address who responds to which type of inquiry; see what to put in an influencer contract for how to phrase it. The preventive side sits elsewhere: the better you've vetted the product and the creator before a campaign goes live, the less often you end up in this situation at all — see brand safety checklist for influencer partnerships for the vetting that reduces the risk.

Example: two different complaints about the same campaign (illustrative)

The following example is invented to illustrate the point — not a real customer case.

An influencer recommends a food processor priced at 1,800 kr in a clearly disclosed, sponsored post. Two months later the motor fails outside the ordinary right-to-complain window in any other way; the buyer first contacts the webshop, is refused, and escalates to Mæglingsteamet for Forbrugerklager, since the amount sits above the 1,220 kr threshold. A different consumer who saw the same post instead complains that, in their view, the post wasn't clearly enough disclosed as an ad — that complaint doesn't belong with the Mediation Team at all, and has to go to Forbrugerombudsmanden instead. Same campaign, two different complaints, two different routes.

Frequently asked questions

Should I complain about the influencer or the business?

The business you bought the product from — unless the influencer is themselves the seller, for example through their own webshop. The influencer's recommendation doesn't change who the legal counterparty is in a complaint about the product itself.

What if I bought the product from a foreign webshop with no address in Denmark?

Then the case generally falls outside the system — Mæglingsteamet for Forbrugerklager and Forbrugerklagenævnet only handle complaints against sellers with a permanent place of business or equivalent in Denmark.

Can a Forbrugerklagenævnet decision actually be enforced if the business doesn't pay?

Yes, if the business has accepted the decision or simply stays passive: the consumer can get help from fogedretten to collect the amount. If the business actively refuses to comply, the decision isn't binding, and the case has to go to the ordinary courts instead.

What if the product cost less than the threshold?

Then Mæglingsteamet for Forbrugerklager and Forbrugerklagenævnet can't handle the case, regardless of whether it otherwise qualifies. The consumer is left to negotiate directly with the business, or use another channel, such as a relevant private appeals board if one exists.

How long does the whole process typically take?

Per Nævnenes Hus's own processing-time statistics, the mediation track averages around 1.4 months, while a full Forbrugerklagenævnet decision averages around 10.6 months (latest reported quarter) — plus up to a further three months to have the decision formally served on the business, if the case ends in a decision.