The Retail Ombudsman (TRO) was an

Ombudsman An ombudsman (, also ,), ombud, ombuds, ombudswoman, ombudsperson or public advocate is an official who is usually appointed by the government or by parliament (usually with a significant degree of independence) to investigate complaints and at ...

for the

retail Retail is the sale of goods and services to consumers, in contrast to wholesaling, which is sale to business or institutional customers. A retailer purchases goods in large quantities from manufacturers, directly or through a wholesaler, and t ...

industry in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

from January 2015 to July 2017. Its role was to resolve disputes between retailers and retail customers.

Background

In July 2015 The EU Alternative Dispute Resolution Directive was planned to come into force. It was delayed until 1 October 2015 in line with the

Consumer Rights Act 2015 The Consumer Rights Act 2015 is an Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom that consolidates existing consumer protection law legislation and also gives consumers a number of new rights and remedies. Provisions for secondary ticketing and ...

. Under the new system companies are obliged to point customers to private complaints-handling companies but would not be bound by their decisions unless they agreed to subscribe to the ADR scheme. This directive allowed for more private companies to handle consumer complaints in sectors including retail, aviation, furniture and property. On 1 January 2015, barrister

Dean Dunham Dean Peter Dunham is a solicitor-advocate, barrister and arbitrator, who has served as the Chief Ombudsman at The Retail Ombudsman, a former Alternative Dispute Resolution provider in the UK. He is considered to be one of the leading authorities o ...

started as the Chief Ombudsman at the Retail Ombudsman.

Establishment

The Retail Ombudsman was a retail alternative dispute resolution (ADR) scheme, and was set up to resolve disputes between shops and customers. During its first weekend in business, the Retail Ombudsman claimed to have received more than 300 complaints. Sir Eric Peacock was chairman of the Retail Ombudsman. It also set up a product recall website in June 2016. It was removed some months after the change in Ombudsman status.

Status

In July 2017, the Retail Ombudsman resigned its membership of the Ombudsman Association (the trade association for ombudsmen in the UK), and changed its name to RetailADR. In May 2018,

Which? ''Which?'' is a United Kingdom brand name that promotes informed consumer choice in the purchase of goods and services by testing products, highlighting inferior products or services, raising awareness of consumer rights and offering independe ...

reported that the Ombudsman Association allowed The Retail Ombudsman to call itself an ombudsman for more than a year before investigating and that The Retail Ombudsman ‘did not meet the OA’s membership criteria for independence, fairness, effectiveness, openness and transparency, and accountability’ and did not complete the re-validation process before TRO resigned. It also implied that Sainsbury's, Tesco and others were members by using their logos in the 2015 Annual report.https://www.which.co.uk/news/2018/05/passengers-still-having-to-fight-for-flight-delay-compensation/ - Which?

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Retail Ombudsman (United Kingdom) 2015 establishments in the United Kingdom Retailing in the United Kingdom Ombudsmen in the United Kingdom