Is the Dutch Consumers’ Association a ‘façade for canvassing’?

Consumers who want to file a complaint about a company can use the website klachtenkompas.nl, an initiative of the Dutch Consumers’ Association. This online complaints platform intends to allow the company and the customer to arrive at a solution together. The website spoke of a step-by-step plan, promising that the company would take action and the complaint would be resolved.

People complained to the Advertising Code Authority (RCC): they felt the Consumers’ Association aroused the impression that all complaints registered on the platform are actually resolved. But after reviewing the complaints filed, this proved not to be the case. In addition, a great many companies don’t take part. The Consumers’ Association was called a ‘façade for canvassing’ that refers consumers to an adviser or intermediary. And its advice to non-members is not free of charge.

The Consumers’ Association was of the opinion that the website gave information about what consumers could expect, although the information was scattered around in different places on the website. The platform is meant to provide a low-threshold solution to problems. Around half of the complaints are resolved and companies that take part are not obliged to do so. It was never their intention, the Consumers’ Association said, to mislead or to canvass for members.

According to the RCC, the message on the website is indeed clear: submission of a complaint will result in a solution. It is not clear to the consumer that this message is qualified on another part of the website. The assertion that a complaint ‘is resolved’ while this is not always the case erodes confidence in advertising. So it is misleading.

In the meantime it looks like the Consumers’ Association is no longer making false promises on the platform, which we completely expected on the basis of the compliance rate with rulings of the RCC.

Tamilla Abdul-Aliyeva