MSE News: Retail ombudsman service launches today

hollydays

From the guardian
http://www.theguardian.com/money/2015/jan/07/retail-ombudsman-consumer-compaints

They are now stating ..


"...already signed up 3,000 retailers as members – although it is not releasing names, relying on companies to do so. "
And
"alternative dispute resolution (ADR) and as part of this the government is considering making ADR mandatory across all consumer goods and services in the UK – including retailers. Members of the TRO would automatically meet this requirement. "

wealdroam

timbstoke wrote: »

Hmmm.......

http://www.theretailombudsman.org.uk/documents/TRO-Press-Release-18-12-14.pdf



https://www.theretailombudsman.org.uk/dashboard/create-claim.php

Yes, I commented on that last week:

wealdroam wrote: »

Dear TRO, can please explain in greater detail how your latest statement actually works?

For clarification, I mean this statement:

If the consumer doesn’t win can they go to court afterwards?

If the consumer agrees to be bound by the decision of the caseworker or ombudsman, they cannot then go to court at a later date.

However, if they disagree with the decision of the caseworker or ombudsman, they can either appeal it and then take it to court if the appeal fails. Or by-pass the appeal process and go straight to court.

I am particularly interested in the sentence "If the consumer agrees to be bound by the decision of the caseworker or ombudsman, they cannot then go to court at a later date".

Are you really saying that it is perfectly ok for you, TRO, to get a consumer to sign away their statutory rights?

That practice is specifically outlawed by The Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999, where Schedule 2 of that legislation lists terms that may be considered unfair.

Paragraph 1(q) therein states:

(q) excluding or hindering the consumer’s right to take legal action or exercise any other legal remedy, particularly by requiring the consumer to take disputes exclusively to arbitration not covered by legal provisions, unduly restricting the evidence available to him or imposing on him a burden of proof which, according to the applicable law, should lie with another party to the contract.

I look forward to your next update to your press release.

Looks like they are still pondering.

Still, they have a couple of weeks before their first complaints arrive.

paddyrg

If you're not happy with their service, can you get them to arbitrate with themselves?

timbstoke

paddyrg wrote: »

If you're not happy with their service, can you get them to arbitrate with themselves?

Good idea. I'd like to introduce my new venture - the Ombudsman Ombudsman. If you're unhappy with the service you get from an Ombudsman, you can escalate to me. The ombudsman will be charged a referral fee of £200 per case.

unholyangel

timbstoke wrote: »

Good idea. I'd like to introduce my new venture - the Ombudsman Ombudsman. If you're unhappy with the service you get from an Ombudsman, you can escalate to me. The ombudsman will be charged a referral fee of £200 per case.

Remember to class yourself as "not for profit" by balancing your books.

This can be achieved by paying exorbitant salaries or perhaps even another company you own could bill your ombudsman an inflated amount for "services provided".