Restaurants and Takeaways
How to make a complaint with a restaurant or takeaway
If you’ve had a dispute with a restaurant or a takeaway and are looking to escalate the complaint The Retail Ombudsman is here to help you get your dispute resolved.
You may have a problem or a dispute with the restaurant’s or takeaway’s food or services which you have found to be unsatisfactory. If this is the case, and you have already complained to the restaurant, you can use our ‘restaurant and takeaways’ complaint form to get your complaint process started.
Before making a complaint
Please note that to be eligible to make a complaint against a restaurant or takeaway, you must have already complained to them directly in writing and either received a final written response or given the restaurant/takeaway eight (8) weeks to respond to your dispute. The Retail Ombudsman can only deal with unresolved complaints.
Which complaints does the restaurants and takeaways sector cover?
The restaurants and takeaways sector cover complaints against any independent restaurant, restaurant chain, independent takeaway, fast-food outlet (including drive-thru’s), independent fast-food outlet, cafe and snack bar etc. Below is a list of popular sources of complaints which The Retail Ombudsman handles within the restaurants and takeaways sector:
- Independent restaurants
- Restaurant chains
- Fast-food outlets
- Drive-thrus
- Fish and Chips
- Indian restaurants
- Italian restaurants
- Chinese restaurants
- Cafes
- Snack bars
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 The Retail Ombudsman, 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 The Retail Ombudsman;
1. By post – if you do not have access to the Internet you can telephone 0203 540 8063 and ask one of our team members to post a complaint form to you. Send your completed form to: The Retail Ombudsman, 12 Walker Avenue, Stratford Office Village, Wolverton Mill, Milton Keynes MK12 5TW
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 complaint handlers will firstly determine whether your complaint falls within The Retail Ombudsman’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 (which we call a ‘complete complaint file’), your complaint handler will initially attempt to make a recommendation to resolve the dispute informally. If this proves unsuccessful we will issue a final determination. If you are not happy with the final determination you will be free to take your complaint to court.
We aim to process all complaints within 60 days from when we receive a complete complaint file.
Am I bound by the ombudsman decision?
Consumers are not bound by our recommendations or determination 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 determinations 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…
