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How to Submit a Consumer Complaint

BULLDOG WATCH has compiled this information to help you in following the correct procedures in the event of a complaint against a business, product- and/or service provider. It is important to follow these guidelines and adhere to this advice to ensure that you have the best possible case against an offender in the event that legal action against such an offender is neccesary.

Remember it is your duty as a consumer to:

  • Make sure that your consumer rights are respected.
  • Complain if you are not satisfied with products and services even if you are not personally affected.
  • Demand a refund or replacement for inferior products and services even if the money involved is small.
  • Read all documents carefully before signing and make sure that you understand the contents.
  • Be informed in the language you understand.

If you believe that you have valid reason to submit a complaint against any business, product- and/or service provider in the event of either unethical business practice or non-compliance with regards to the Consumer Protection Act (CPA) you can follow the following guidelines to ensure that you will be successful in resolving the issue:

CommunicationSTEP 1 - COMMUNICATION IS KEY

  1. In the event of a complaint first go back to the business, product- and/or service provider against whom you would like to submit a complaint.

  2. Ask to speak to the owner, manager or someone at the proper authority level. Do not waste your time with speaking to someone in a junior position who would be unable to assist you with your complaint. You will only need to repeat the matter again which can be very frustrating.

  3. Sometimes patience is needed to resolve an issue, especially if the owner or manager of a business is not available to see you or take your call. In this event make an appointment to see them or ask to be called back.

  4. Be open and willing to discuss the issue and reason for your dissatisfaction. In many cases, such as when buying a product that has malfunctioned, the issue will be resolved immediately by either an apology, refund for the service or product, or through a replacement product. Broken products or a bad service experience is sometimes just as much as a shock to the business owner or manager than it is to you and usually they will gladly assist to correct the matter.

  5. Remember that most often than not respect meets respect. Do not become aggressive, swear at anyone, threaten or make a scene. This is not needed and you will only put yourself in a bad position.

  6. If you feel that the situation is such that you cannot confront someone face-to-face with regards to the problem or complaint, due to not having the confidence to approach the subject or if the matter is severe and calls for written proof of a complaint, we recommend writing a letter of complaint to the offending party. This way is sometimes also better seeing as you have written proof of what you complained about as well the dates. Further to that it also allows the offender to respond in writing.

  7. Please do not submit a small consumer complaint to BULLDOG WATCH if you have not discussed the issue with the offending party first. In many cases issues can be resolved instantly without the need for a legal party to become involved.

  8. Only submit a complaint to us if no resolution has been achieved by following the above guidelines or if you feel that the issue at hand is too severe to approach the offending party yourself, such as in the case of medical negligence. In such severe cases contact us to handle the matter for you from start to finish.

STEP 2 - WHAT IF A VERBAL OR WRITTEN COMPLAINT DOES NOT WORK?

Subit ComplaintIn the case where a verbal or written complaint does not work or if the offending party has no intent to correct the matter, you can contact BULLDOG WATCH to advise you on further action or to handle the matter for you. In the event that we take over a matter it is advisable for our client to refrain from further contact with the offender unless instructed to do so by us.

Please submit the following information/items to us on: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

  1. Completed Consumer Complaint Form
    (Click here to Download)

  2. Scanned copy of Invoice and/or Receipt for the item and/or service in question.

  3. Scanned copy of Contracts and/or Agreements if applicable.

  4. Scanned or e-mail copies of all correspondence related to the matter (email or letters)

  5. Any further details or items which you believe to be applicable to the matter and could assist us with getting a positive resolution to the matter.

Please note that all complaints will receive our most urgent attention. We do however receive large amounts of complaints and it can take up to 72 hours to look over and respond to a single complaint. We do however try to respond to severe and group complaints or items requiring utmost urgency as soon as possible.  Please however always ensure that you receive an automatically generated confirmation email from BULLDOG WATCH to confirm receipt of your complaint submission.