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    About Dispute Resolution Ombudsman

    By The reallymoving Team Updated 28th Jul, 2020

    Dispute Resolution Ombudsman is a not-for-profit organisation providing an independent and impartial service that is free to consumers. We operate under appropriate legislation and with the approval of regulatory authorities and trade bodies. We are neither a consumer champion nor a trade body. We operate independently to ensure fairness in every case.

    About Dispute Resolution Ombudsman

    We provide Alternative Dispute Resolution to consumers and businesses in a range of sectors, including furniture, home improvement, removals, retail and rail.

    In making decisions, we take into account:

    • Relevant law
    • Regulatory rules, guidance and standards
    • Codes of practice
    • Good industry practice.
    By joining our scheme, reallymoving has provided its participating companies with access to our expert Alternative Dispute Resolution service.  Our approach helps to avoid costly litigation, for the benefit of all parties.  We have robust processes and a highly skilled team in place to resolve complaints in a fair and efficient way.

    Who can use our service?

    We handle complaints from consumers about reallymoving.com participating companies, where the consumer received removals quotes from reallymoving.com

    When can we become involved?

    Consumers must give the company a reasonable opportunity to resolve the complaint. A company should give information on its website about how to complain or provide the customer with a written copy of its complaints procedure.

    The consumer may escalate their complaint to reallymoving.com.

    If the customer receives reallymoving’s final response to a complaint and remains unhappy, or the complaint is unresolved after eight weeks, we may be able to help. Disputes can be raised with Dispute Resolution Ombudsman via reallymoving.
     

    How we handle complaints

    We aim to resolve complaints as quickly as possible with the most appropriate outcome. We look at complaints on a case by case basis and use different approaches to reach a resolution, depending on the complexity of the complaint:

    Conciliation
    Our ADR experts will engage with both the consumer and the participating company, trying to reach a mutually acceptable outcome. Our service is telephone-led, promoting effective dialogue and efficient case-closure times.

    Adjudication
    If an agreement cannot be reached, we will proceed to an adjudication. At this point, the Ombudsman will make a decision that is fair and reasonable, based on the evidence provided by both parties.
    The decision is binding on the scheme member and is enforceable in court. We can require:
    • An apology
    • An explanation of what went wrong
    • A practical action to correct the problem
    • A financial award up to £10,000 in compensation
    We may also make recommendations to the company so that it can avoid similar problems happening again.

    If the consumer accepts our decision it becomes final and the company is bound to put the remedy in place.

    If the consumer rejects our decision, they lose the right to the resolution we have offered, but retain their right to take the complaint elsewhere, such as the courts.

    Want to know more?

    Visit our website for more information about the way we work: www.disputeresolutionombudsman.org
     

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