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How We Perform
Our Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) service is a two stage conciliation and adjudication process that is exclusive to consumers of our registered Full Members.
When an application is received detailing a complaint against one of our registered Full Members, the claim is investigated through our conciliation process. At this stage we may be able to make an early decision on the validity of a claim, recommend or uphold an offer which has already been made prior to our involvement, or negotiate a settlement.
Where a settlement cannot be reached between the parties, we are able to make a formal decision in the form of an adjudication. Our figures, taken from the year ending August 2011, show that of all the cases investigated by The Furniture Ombudsman 78% were closed at the conciliation stage and 22% progressed to adjudication. 70% of all complaint applications received in this year were home furnishing complaints and 30% were home improvement installation complaints.
In the cases reviewed during the year, our figures demonstrate that the consumers’ claim was either upheld in full or in part in 51% of all cases, and was not upheld in 49% of all cases. To clarify, where a claim is upheld in part, a split decision is made, where some aspects of a claim with multiple issues have been found in favour of the consumer and some have been found in favour of the retailer. The statistics used in this review relate to the year ending August 2011.
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