CDRL
Complaints Process: Step-by-Step
Step 1: Submit your Complaint
Once you’ve established which of our ADR schemes you need to use, and double-checked that the company you’re complaining about is a member of it, it’s time to submit your complaint to us!
You can do this via any of the following methods:
1) Our online complaints portal (found on the relevant scheme site’s homepage)
2) Post (using a paper form)
3) Telephone
It is important that you fill out your complaint thoroughly and provide as much supporting evidence as possible to strengthen your case. For example:
- Receipts
- Photographs
- Copies of correspondence
Once you’ve submitted your complaint, we’ll check if it’s eligible for our ADR scheme & something we can deal with before moving you on to the next step.
Not sure which of our ADR schemes you should use? Take a look HERE
Step 2: We review Eligibility
If your complaint isn’t eligible for the ADR scheme you’ve submitted it to, we’ll inform you of this in writing within a set time-frame.
If your complaint is eligible for the ADR scheme you’ve submitted it to, it gets registered.
We’ll then send you log-in details for our online portal.
Your claim will be managed via the portal from this point on.
Step 3: Company Responds
The company is given a set time-frame to provide a response.
They may:
- Settle the complaint
- Provide a written defence challenging the complaint
- Object that it falls out of the ADR scheme’s scope
Their response is then posted in the Online Portal.
If the company raises a scope objection, this is considered first, and the response period is paused while we do so.
If they choose to settle your complaint, they get an additional time-frame to carry out the agreed-upon resolution (such as paying compensation).
If they choose to challenge your complaint, you move on to Step 4.
Step 4: You comment on the Defence
If the company chooses to challenge your complaint:
You get a set time-frame and opportunity to comment on their response and add more evidence supporting your case.
This is then collated in a file.
Following your response, the company is then given a set time-frame to provide any final comment of their own in reply.
Step 5: Complete Complaint File
We then confirm that we have all information and evidence from both parties, and declare a Complete Complaint File.
From this point, no further documentation, information, or evidence will be accepted or taken into account from either party. This is to ensure fairness to both sides, so that neither party is placed at a disadvantage by late material.
Step 6: Final Decision
A specialist Adjudicator / Arbitrator produces a final written decision within a set time-frame of establishing the Complete Complaint File (Step 5).
PLEASE NOTE:
With the exception of our Consumer Arbitration scheme (the outcome of which is immediately legally binding), the Determination is only legally binding on the company if you choose to accept it.
You are given a set amount of time to make this decision (either accepting or rejecting our Final Decision).
If you choose to reject the Determination, you’re still free to pursue your complaint in court irrespective of the outcome of your ADR complaint!
To find out more, please visit the relevant ADR scheme’s site for a comprehensive overview of what happens before, during, and after the Alternative Dispute Resolution process:
> CommsADR
