European Economic
and Social Committee
EuroCommerce
Summary of the initiative
Description of the Initiative
Sector
Sector
Self/Co-Regulation Basic Act
Self/Co-Regulation Basic Act
Geographical Coverage
Description
Description
Conduct an initial survey of compliance capacity of future regulatees | Conduct regular visits and spot checks | Initiate complaints procedures | Maintain database of those bounded by the norms | Produce regular reports | Receive complaints and verify if norms were breached or not | Reflexive dialogue with the - stakeholders | Other | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
European Commission | ||||||||
National public authority | ||||||||
International public authority | ||||||||
Private regulator (code owner) | yes | yes | yes | yes | ||||
Private independent party with a mandate (e.g. auditors) | ||||||||
Self-appointed private parties (e.g. NGOs) |
Faming, shaming and blaming | Judicial sanctions | Membership suspension/exclusion | Private fines | Other | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Private Regulator | yes | yes | |||
Private independent party with a mandate (e.g. auditors) | |||||
Court system | |||||
Alternative dispute resolution (ADR) / Online dispute resolution (ODR) |
<P>The company shall provide the customer with detailed information on the handling of complaints and on out-of-court settlement of litigation, if available, in the language that the customer has chosen for consulting the website and for ordering. </P>
<P>a) Handling of complaints </P>
<P>In case of complaint, the customer must first apply to the Customer Service made available to him by the company. The company shall handle the complaint within 10 calendar days, counted from the day it was received by the company. Should the company be unable to find a solution during this period, it shall inform the customer accordingly and indicate the time-span necessary for dealing definitively with the complaint. This time-span shall not exceed 30 days. </P>
<P>b) EURO-LABEL complaint form </P>
<P>To facilitate the relationship between the customer and the company and/or the customer and the body responsible for out-of-court settlement of litigation, the company shall provide access to the Euro-Label complaint form. </P>
<P>c) If the complaint handling with the customer service of the company fails, the consumer may submit a complaint to the national member who certified the shop. The time span to handle this complaint will not exceed ten calendar days from the day the certification body received the complaint. </P>
<P>d) Out-of-court settlement of litigation </P>
<P>Should the customer not be satisfied with the reply or the arrangement proposed by the company or by the certification body, the customer is free to bring the complaint before the body indicated by the certification body, which is in charge of settling litigation out of court. </P>
<P>e) Cross-border litigation </P>
<P>Should the customer resort to a settlement on the basis of personal agreement and/or out-of-court action, this does not deprive him of the right to access the competent legal authorities according to the international Conventions in force. </P>