Australian Consumers' Association
Whether you've got a complaint against a store, car dealer, tradesperson, professional, bank or other organisation, follow our tips to exercise your rights and get satisfaction!
Step 1: Know your rights! If you know what you’re entitled to, you can ask for it with confidence.
Step 2: Go to the source. Approach the retailer or organisation that provided the service and explain the problem as soon as possible.
Step 3: Write a letter to the manager or the organisation’s customer service department.
Step 4: Lodge a complaint. Approach the government or industry body that deals with complaints in that area, such as the fair trading/consumer affairs department, health complaints body or industry ombudsman.
Step 5: Lodge a claim with the small claims tribunal or equivalent if it's a fair trading issue.
Step 1: Know your rights!
Your first step in resolving a dispute with a store, tradesperson, professional or organisation is to find out your rights in the situation.
Check with the relevant complaints body, such as fair trading department, health complaints agency or other government body, industry association or ombudsman or professional organisation. They'll normally give advice over the phone.
You can also find contact details for these bodies and a range of consumer rights information under Your Rights.
Once you know your rights, you can be confident in exercising them.
Consider these approaches to settling a complaint.
“Well..um...I thought maybe you could … you know… um.. er… give me…”
Is this you? Hesitant and unsure in asking for a refund for faulty goods while the store is saying they’ll only offer a repair?
“I know that I’m entitled to a refund if goods are faulty. I don’t have to accept a repair.”
This shows you know your rights and are confident about asking for them.
Who'll get results faster?
The confident consumer is more likely to get satisfaction almost immediately.
If you're unsure about your rights you may get nowhere with the retailer and have to take the case to the local fair trading/consumer affairs authority to get the same result.
Step 2: Go to the source
Armed with knowledge of your rights, and our advice below, you can phone or go into the seller or service provider's premises — as soon as possible.
First gather any necessary paperwork like receipts, invoices, bills, advertisements, catalogues and print-outs of online orders to show you bought the goods or service, the date and how much you paid.
It's important to work out what you want, say a refund, compensation or apology, before you talk to the trader.
Write down the key points if you think that’ll help.
Be prepared to explain:
what the product or service is and when you bought it
the problem, when it developed and what needs to be done to rectify it
your rights in the situation.
Keep your cool
When you make contact, ask to speak to the person you dealt with and explain the situation calmly and firmly.
If they don’t have the authority to handle your complaint, ask to speak to someone who does, for example, the manager.
If you complain in person, it sometimes helps to take a friend for support and to be a witness but make sure they keep their cool, too.
Make notes
Write down the name and position of the person you speak to and make notes of this and any other conversations you have with the trader.
Also keep any correspondence and other documentation you receive from the trader.
You'll need as much evidence as possible if you have to lodge a complaint with Fair Trading/Consumer Affairs or the Small Claims Tribunal or equivalent.
Step 3: Write a letter
If your visit or phone call doesn't bring quick results, write a letter to the trader confirming the details of your complaint.
Some tips:
Ring the store for the name of the manager or get the name of the contact person for the organisation's customer service department and address the letter to them.
Keep your letter simple, straightforward and polite and write it in clear and easy-to-read language.
Get straight to the point in the first paragraph and carefully plan what you want to say in the rest of the letter.
Outline the problem, when it first occurred, what it will take to resolve the matter and what steps you've already taken.
Show you know your rights by including a sentence about why you're entitled to the type of redress you're requesting.
Be reasonable if you set a deadline for a response.
Enclose copies (not originals) of relevant documents, such as receipts, quotes and invoices.
Present information carefully in written complaints sent by fax or email — as you would in a letter.
Keep a copy of the letter and any others you write to the trader. As well as documenting your complaint, they will show you tried to resolve the issue yourself if you have to lodge a complaint with Fair Trading/Consumer Affairs.
Step 4: Lodge a complaint
The trader or service provider has told you they're not prepared to give you what you want or they haven't replied at all.
It's time to lodge a complaint with the fair trading/consumer affairs department, other relevant government complaint agency or industry ombudsman.
Put your complaint in writing. You can usually send it by mail, fax or email. You may even be able to lodge it on the complaint body's website.
What to include
Use your letter to the seller or service provider as a guide for your written complaint. Include:
a description of the problem
when it occurred
what it will take to resolve the matter
what steps you've already taken.
Supply copies of the necessary paperwork (not originals), such as correspondence between you and the trader, notes of conversations, receipts, invoices and quotes with your complaint.
The complaint body will attempt to negotiate a resolution between you and the seller or service provider.
For fair trading complaints, the fair trading/consumer affairs department can investigate traders and may take action in the courts when they've breached consumer protection laws.
However, the department usually can't force traders to resolve individual complaints.
To obtain an order against the trader which can be enforced through the courts, you have to lodge a claim with the fair trading/small claims tribunal in your state or territory. See Step Five: Small claims tribunal .
Step 5: Small claims tribunal
The Small Claims Tribunal or equivalent in your state or territory offers an inexpensive path to justice for fair trading disputes.
The fees and the maximum amount you can claim in these tribunals vary from state to state.
The hearings are usually relatively informal. Each party tells their side of the story and the referee makes an order.
Take any records you have of the dispute, such as notes of conversations and correspondence with the trader, and relevant documents like receipts, invoices and quotes.
Find an expert
To show a service was not performed properly or a product did not do what it was supposed to it's useful to approach an independent expert to make a written assessment of the situation. You can use this as evidence in the case.
The small claims tribunals, which are also known as fair trading tribunals and small claims courts in some states and territories, make orders for claims in dollar amounts.
If you obtain an order in your favour and the trader doesn't abide by it, you can enforce it by going to the Local Court or Magistrates Court.
If the amount you're claiming is outside the jurisdiction of the tribunal, you'll have to pursue the matter in the regular court system. So seek legal advice!
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