Responding to Consumer Complaints
Responding to Consumer Complaints The Credit Ombudsman Service Limited (COSL) dispute resolution service exists outside the legal system and provides COSL members and consumers with the opportunity to quickly resolve credit disputes. When responding to consumer complaints, members must provide clear, concise and comprehensive responses to COSL and consumers. Below are some tips on making a good response to COSL. By following these guidelines, members can minimise delays during the dispute resolution process and avoid unnecessary stress for both members and consumers. What to do when you receive a consumer's complaint from COSL COSL members are required to respond to COSL within 21 days of receiving a consumer complaint. The response is then forwarded to the consumer for their consideration. Before responding to a consumer complaint, members should: • Read the complaint in full and identify the relevant issues raised by the consumer. If the basis of a complaint is unclear, ask COSL in writing as soon as possible if the consumer could clarify any issues you're uncertain about; • Make a list of the consumer’s concerns and prepare a chronology of events; • Obtain all relevant information and documents including internal diary notes; • If delays are likely in obtaining information or providing a response, contact COSL as soon as possible and explain why there could be a delay and when you expect to respond; and • If you need to apply for an extension of time, members must make a written application to COSL with supporting documentation within 21 days of receiving the complaint. As COSL provides members responses as they are to consumers, responses must be: • Clear and concise; • Understandable - members must use plain English. If the consumer has difficulty with English, members must attach a translation in the consumer's first language; and • Professional, not emotive, abusive or argumentative; Your response must clearly state what position you are taking on the complaint: • If you accept the complaint without offering redress, give reasons for your position; or • If you accept the complaint and are offering redress, explain what redress you are offering the consumer, giving details of its form or amount. Give reasons for your position; or • If you do not accept the complaint but are offering redress, explain what redress you are offering, giving details of its form or amount. Give reasons for your position; or • If you reject the complaint, give reasons for your position. Responses should include a chronology of events and a list of the facts on which you and the consumer both agree. This might alleviate any "them and us" focus during dispute resolution. Members can respond either paragraph by paragraph to the consumer’s complaint or issue by issue or they can respond in chronological order. Things to avoid in your response The EDR process is open and transparent. Information received by COSL from consumers and members is exchanged between the parties. Thus, a delay by either the consumer or the member, or a failure by either party to provide a comprehensive response, can lengthen the time taken to finalise complaints. Members’ responses should not: • Jump from point to point without any order or relevance; • Fail to respond to all the issues raised; • Be emotive, haranguing, abusive or use argumentative language; • Amount to personal attacks on the consumer; or • Swamp COSL with documents, or fail to identify relevant documents or fail to explain the relevance of documents. Why should I bother making a good response to a complaint? A good response to COSL represents your organisation as a professional one that respects its clients. A good response will also: • Help COSL better understand the issues and your case; • Speed up the dispute resolution process; • Reduce the risk of parties becoming frustrated and "digging in"; • Demonstrate that you are committed to acting in a professional manner at all times, even if you are the subject of a complaint; and • Increase your opportunity to retrieve what might otherwise be a lost business relationship.
COSL has published a policy, COSL Policy Guideline EDRP 9, about allowing members extensions of time. Members can view this policy on the COSL website at www.creditombudsman.com.au. COSL has also issued a policy about timeframes which members must follow, COSL Policy Guideline EDRP 5. This is also available on the COSL website. How to construct responses Clear, concise and timely responses are essential from consumers and members and will reduce the time taken to resolve complaints. Members’ responses should clearly state if they accept or reject a complaint and provide all the reasons for their position. Members must provide all relevant documents with their responses and clearly label them, even if the document is not favourable to their case.
Membership Office PO Box A252, Sydney, NSW 1235 Tel: 02 9273 8455 Fax: 02 9261 2792 Email: members@creditombudsman.com.au
Case Management Office: PO Box A252, Sydney, NSW 1235 Tel: 02 9273 8400 Fax: 02 9261 2798 Interstate Callers: 1300 780 808 Email: info@creditombudsman.com.au