2. 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

3. 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

4. … A new reality ? Why is it important to act now ?

5. e-Companies (Yahoo.com) –Beginning of 9525 –February 96 7 020 –May 96 68 776 –October 96 134 415 –April 97191 028 –September 97 285 628 –March 98 313 163 –October 98 386 389 –February 99434 718 –October 99 498 604 Source: Yahoo.com

6. e-Users (Nua, 1999) Source: NUA, 1999

7. Source: ActiMedia

8. Common Problems for “e- merchants” 4 Common 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

9. Purchased products on-line in Europe suffer from “serious problems of delivery” Source: Andersen Consulting-2000

10. 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

11. 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 »

12. Customer Complaints Resolution Mechanism (CCRM) Easy to useEasy to use Hot-link directly back to e-merchantHot-link directly back to e-merchant SecureSecure Basic “rules of the game” (e.g. e-merchant should acknowledge within one day maximum and reply within three days maximum)Basic “rules of the game” (e.g. e-merchant should acknowledge within one day maximum and reply within three days maximum)

13. Need for Multilingualism Automatic translation systemAutomatic translation system Multiple questions (yes/no)Multiple questions (yes/no) caveat that automatic translation is not perfectcaveat that automatic translation is not perfect

14. 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

15. Conclusion The 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 ResolutionLegalAction

16. FEDERATION OF EUROPEAN DIRECT MARKETING Thank you for listening FEDERATION OF EUROPEAN DIRECT MARKETING Website : http://fedma.org E-mail : info@fedma.org