The Consumer Ombudsman has launched today to much fanfare and will go head-to-head with rival service the Retail Ombudsman.

Consumer Ombudsman

The Consumer Ombudsman launched months ago so why are we talking about it now?

Retail Week reported in April that Ombudsman Services, a multi-sector provider of independent dispute resolution, had for the first time opened its doors to accept complaints in the retail sector. However, this was only a soft launch with a rather crude website. Today it has launched an all-singing, all-dancing web portal to allow consumers to make complaints by email.

Initially, the department for Business, Innovation and Skills was tendering for a “residual body” that a consumer could complain to no matter the sector. The department decided to withdraw that tender process and let the market decide on ombudsman services instead.

As a result, there could be a number of players vying for supremacy within the retail sector. The Retail Ombudsman is the more established player and has been up and running since January 3. It is understood it has already received around 11,000 complaints.

What powers do these ombudsmen services have?

As it stands, their powers are limited and rely on retailers voluntarily signing up to the services.

The Government is adopting the European Union directive on Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR), which will boost such ombudsman services. The directive was due to be instigated in July, but has now been pushed back until October. It will require retailers to signpost to the consumer an officially authorised provider of ADR.

Retailers are not compelled to sign up to the ombudsman services but it is hoped they will do so to protect their corporate reputations.

Retailers that do sign up can call on the ombudsman to negotiate with unhappy consumers and adjudicate on the matter. If The Consumer Ombudsman finds in a consumer’s favour, it can demand an apology from the company, an explanation of what went wrong and potentially a financial award.

The Retail Ombudsman will attempt to put the consumer back into the position they were before they made the purchase, whether that is through a refund or replacement product.

Which retailers have signed up?

The Retail Ombudsman had 3,000 retailers signed up when it launched in January and it is believed that number has now climbed to 4,000.

However, it is not releasing names of the members, instead relying on companies to promote their membership for themselves.

The Consumer Ombudsman is yet to sign up any retailers, but is now seeking to do so following its launch.