Guidance

GCA Consumer complaints best practice statement

Published 13 December 2016

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GCA best practice statement on Consumer Complaints

The GCA has reviewed the consumer complaints policies of all ten retailers to assess their alignment with the Code:

  • It was found that retailers adopted a range of practices: some retailers apply no charge for general complaints while other retailers have set charges ranging from £0-£45. Of those retailers applying charges, some only do so in a small proportion of cases. All retailers apply a charge for serious failings (e.g. foreign bodies, serious illness and injury).
  • The GCA has concluded that on the information provided, from August 2015 all retailers’ policies appear to be compliant with the Code and that charges made by those retailers, where applied, appear to be reasonable.
  • The GCA has requested that retailers consider what improvements they could make to the transparency of their communications with suppliers about complaints received and complaints handling more generally, to allow suppliers better to anticipate when charges will be applied.

The GCA has indicated this may be achieved by:

  • Ensuring that suppliers understand the basis of any consumer complaint charges applied;
  • Providing detailed complaint information as quickly as possible to suppliers, so they can act on it sooner, and considering whether a commitment can be made to do this within 5 working days of receiving the complaint; and
  • Resolving a higher percentage of complaints in-store and charging a lower amount for this type

All ten retailers supported this best practice statement in June 2015.

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