Health and Beauty
How to make a complaint with a retailer in the health and beauty industry
If you’ve had a dispute with a retailer in the health and beauty industry and are looking to escalate your complaint for a swift resolution, RetailADR is here to help you get your dispute resolved.
You may have a problem or dispute with a health and beauty product or service i.e. cosmetics, massage therapy, chemists or a hair salon which you have found to be unsatisfactory. If this is the case, and you have already complained to the retailer, you can use our ‘Health and Beauty’ complaint form to get your complaint process started. RetailADR can then respond to you as soon as possible with a resolution.
Before making a complaint
Please note that to be eligible to make a complaint against a health and beauty retailer, you must have already complained to that retailer directly in writing and either received a final written response (sometimes referred to as a ‘deadlock letter’) or given the retailer eight (8) weeks to respond to your dispute. RetailADR can only deal with unresolved complaints.
Which complaints does the health and beauty retail sector cover?
The health and beauty retail sector covers complaints against any hair salon, barbers, beauticians, cosmetic retailers etc. Below is a list of popular sources of consumer complaints from the health and beauty retail sector:
- Cosmetic retailers
- Massage therapists
- Health shops (vitamin supplements)
- Hair salons
- Beauticians
- Barbers
- Nail bars
- Chemists
- Opticians
Our Powers
We can:
- Direct the retailer/trader to take, or desist from taking, certain steps – such as providing a refund or exchange or issuing a formal apology.
- Direct the retailer/trader to pay you a financial award by way of compensation (up to £25,000) for proven financial loss – where appropriate and applicable.
If the retailer/trader is a member of RetailADR, they will be contractually obligated to implement our decision. However, if the retailer/trader
is not a member it will be within their discretion, although in most circumstances we would expect non-member retailers to reconsider their position.
Complaint Process
There are two ways to bring your complaint to RetailADR;
1. By post – if you do not have access to the Internet you can telephone 0203 137 8268 and ask one of our team members to post a complaint form to you. Send your completed form to: RetailADR, 33 Floor, Euston Towers, 286 Euston Road, London NW1 3DP.
2. Online – if you have access to the Internet you can file your complaint via our online portal. To access this simply go to the home page of the website and click on ‘File your complaint‘. As soon as you have filed your complaint you will be taken to your own personal portal page. This page provides you with live information about your claim so that you can check the progress at any time of day.
Note: Upon submission of your complaint one of our caseworkers will firstly determine whether your complaint falls within RetailADR’s jurisdiction. If it does not we will not be able to deal with your complaint and we will notify you in writing, by no later than 21 days, of the reasons why.
Once accepted, your complaint will go through a 5-step procedure as shown below. You will be kept up-to-date with the progress of your complaint either via your personal online portal (if you have Internet access) or via post.
Once we have all of the relevant information and supporting documentation from yourself and the retailer/trader, your complaint handler will initially attempt to make a recommendation to resolve the dispute informally. If this proves unsuccessful we will issue a final decision. If you are not happy with the final decision you will be free to take your complaint to court.
We aim to process all complaints within 60 days.
Am I bound by the Adjudicator’s decision?
Consumers are not bound by our recommendations or decisions unless you agree to be bound. If you do not agree to be bound and you are unhappy with the outcome, you can still take your complaint elsewhere (such as to court).
What we need from you
It’s vitally important that you complete the complaint form as thoroughly as possible. We need to know precisely what you complaint is and how it has arisen.
We base our decisions on the information and evidence provided to us. Where we have to decide on a matter of fact we do so on the balance of probabilities (that is which version of events is more likely to be accurate).
We, therefore, advise that both consumers and retailers provide as much supporting evidence as possible, such as:
- receipts
- photographs
- etc..
