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Building Trust in the Online Environment: Business to Consumer Dispute Resolution. Joint OECD, HCOPIL, ICC Conference The Hague, 11-12 December 2000 Session III: Dispute Resolution at the earliest Stage - internal complaints handling and customer refunds Presentation by Alastair Tempest,
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Building Trust in the Online Environment: Business to Consumer Dispute Resolution Joint OECD, HCOPIL, ICC Conference The Hague, 11-12 December 2000 Session III: Dispute Resolution at the earliest Stage - internal complaints handling and customer refunds Presentation by Alastair Tempest, Director General, Federation of European Direct Marketing
Trust and Confidence FEDMA with the “Ring of confidence” aims to establish a comprehensive self regulatory system for electronic commerce. The Ring of Confidence includes : • a Code of Conduct on E-commerce and interactive Marketing • a related consumer complaint resolution mechanism • links to online Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) Systems. FEDERATION OF EUROPEAN DIRECT MARKETING
… A new reality ? Why is it important to act now ?
e-Companies(Yahoo.com) • Beginning of 95 25 • February 96 7 020 • May 96 68 776 • October 96 134 415 • April 97 191 028 • September 97 285 628 • March 98 313 163 • October 98 386 389 • February 99 434 718 • October 99 498 604 Source: Yahoo.com
e-Users(Nua, 1999) Source: NUA, 1999
4Common Problems for “e-merchants” • Lack of confidence for financial transactions on-line • Concerns about the unrestricted or hidden collection of personal data • Non-delivery/late delivery of goods • Hidden costs (especially postal charges and taxes) • No clear guide to the sellers’ rules and procedures Therefore consumers lack trust and confidence in the web
Purchased products on-line in Europe suffer from “serious problems of delivery” Source: Andersen Consulting-2000
Objective:To measure the ability of European dot.com companies to capture and fulfil orders, process payments and refunds, and handle returns Results: • 510 total orders ; 445 survey responses • Of the 445 returned surveys: • 272 orders were submitted successfully and were delivered to the customer within the 4 week deadline • 173 of the orders (38.9%) failed • The 173 failed orders are categorised as: • Orders which were not completed (51.4%) and failed due to technical or procedural problems • Orders which have been placed but did not arrive within 4 weeks (48.6%) Source: Andersen Consulting-2000
e-Commerce is not English-Commerce Multilingual Web sites • 63 of the Fortune 100 Websites available in English only • 50 % of Online sales will be outside the US by 2004 • 60 % of Web Users live outside the US now Source: Forrester « The Multilingual Site Blueprint »
Customer Complaints Resolution Mechanism (CCRM) • Easy to use • Hot-link directly back to e-merchant • Secure • Basic “rules of the game” (e.g. e-merchant should acknowledge within one day maximum and reply within three days maximum)
Need for Multilingualism • Automatic translation system • Multiple questions (yes/no) • caveat that automatic translation is not perfect
Follow Through • FEDMA believes that various mediation systems should be available. Over time the most effective will develop. • The consumer should never be given the impression s/he is forced to use either the CCRM or ARD. The alternative of legal action should not be denied
ConclusionThe CCRM is a first level for a complaint, followed by ARDs and if the dispute continues, by legal action Consumer Complaints Resolution Mechanism Alternative Dispute Resolution Legal Action
Thank you for listeningFEDERATION OF EUROPEAN DIRECT MARKETING Website : http://fedma.org E-mail : info@fedma.org