Consumer Complaints is a self-serve website where New Zealand consumers can post complaints against any New Zealand business or organisation. The website serves as a centralised database for complaints that can be accessed by the public at anytime. Once a complaint has been submitted, it becomes live instantly and can be seen by visitors to the site.

Any individual residing in New Zealand can submit a complaint. Businesses can also submit complaints against other businesses as they are also consumers. The main aim of this site is to get complaints resolved. Businesses can post comments at complaints or email the complainant directly in order to try and resolve the complaint. The complainant can mark the complaint as "Resolved" once it has been sorted. Visitors to the site can post comments under complaints and also give the business being complaint against a thumbs down.

We believe Consumer Complaints can make a massive impact on customer satisfaction standards in New Zealand. It would happen gradually as businesses realise they could no longer get away with over promising and under delivering to their customers. As the customers now have a powerful website to voice their concerns on.

Consumer Complaints membership is free to all New Zealand residents and businesses. You have to be physically located in New Zealand in order to get access to our registration page. Once registered you can submit complaints, post comments at complaints, save complaints to your favourites and also email other members.

After you've registered you'll be emailed a verification link. You have to click on that verification link in order to activate your account. Sometimes email filters can wrongly intercept legitimate emails as Spam. So please check your "Junk Email", "Spam" or "Bulk" folders just in case our email is sitting there by mistake. Please add our main support email () to your Safe-List to avoid email delivery problems in future.

You require your email and password to login to your Consumer Complaints account. Your password is case sensitive and must be between 5 to 20 characters in length. Please ensure you use a hard-to-guess password and never share your password with anyone.

Also, only tick the "Remember me" box on the login page if you're using Consumer Complaints from your own personal computer. Ticking that box means that you won't have to login the next time you visit Consumer Complaints. If on a shared computer, always logout from your account after using our site. Both the logout and login links appear next to the Consumer Complaints logo.

If you forget your password you can quickly set a new one. The process to reset your password is very easy and all you need to remember is your email address registered with as. Simply follow the "Forgot your password?" link shown at our login page.

The right hand column of your account page has your contact and login details. Please keep your details up-to-date at all times, particularly your email address. When members email you using the contact form found under your profile, it will be directed to the email address you have registered with us. We also email you a notification if a comment is posted under one of your complaints. So your email needs to be valid.

By default, you'll receive notifications by email whenever someone posts a comment at one of your complaints. A member can also send you an email using our online contact form (your email address is not revealed). Both these features are enabled by default. However, you can change them very easily and stop receiving all notifications and also stop members from sending you messages. Simply visit your "Account" page and change your settings under "Email notification settings".

You can submit a complaint at any stage provided your complaint is genuine. We do recommend that you first give the business concerned a chance to remedy your problem before you submit the complaint. If they do not solve your problem to your satisfaction you can still submit your complaint. Submitting a complaint is ultimately in your control and you should do what feels right in your situation.

You need to be registered and logged into our site before you can submit your complaint. To submit the complaint, simply click on the "Submit Complaint" tab. The process is very simply and idiot-proof and all you need to do is follow the simple steps. Please read our complaint policy below before submitting your complaint.

Everyone submitting a complaint must stick to our complaint policy. We've made this policy to be fair to all parties involved and also to maintain a quality standard for this site.

To ensure you have a solid ground to argue your complaint, please write your complaint honestly. Be fair on the business or organisation as much as you can so that your complaint doesn't look like you're simply "running them down". If you provide hard facts such as the time, location, staff description, etc, your complaint then carries much more weight and meaning.

We have zero tolerance on the usage of bad language. You're also not allowed to mask bad language using keyboard symbols such as %*#*. So please refrain from using any bad language within your complaint. You're also not allowed to use more than one exclamation mark in any sentence. Limit it to just one per sentence and do not use more than three in your entire complaint. Typing in all CAPS is also not allowed. Reading something that's in all caps is difficult and it also means that you're shouting.

People reading your complaint will not have experienced what you have so you'll need to set the context correctly. Then only will the viewers be able to see your point of view. And you do this by giving as much relevant detail as you can think of regarding your complaint. Detail is also important if you want the business concerned to investigate your complaint.

If a resolution is feasible in your situation then you need to point out what you'd like done to help resolve your problem. If you are specific about what you'd like done, perhaps even a different business might offer to help you out. Or some other consumer might be able to give you a better option or solution.

We allow up to five photos to be uploaded with each complaint. If you have evidence relating to your complaint then you should upload them. A classic case where evidential photos would come in handy is where some tradesperson has done a shoddy job and refuses to correct it. Taking photos of that work and then publishing them with your complaint leaves little room for the business to deny your claims.

To ensure your complaint is easily found, please double check vital bits of your complaint such as the business name and categories.

It's your responsibility to ensure you keep your complaint updated with any developments that happen after you've submitted the complaint. You can add additional information by posting comments under your complaint. Also keep an eye out for emails sent using our online form. It may be from the business you've complaint against or from a member with some helpful suggestions to solve your problem.

You should also read comments made under your complaint and respond by posting a comment where a response is required. We encourage businesses to post their side of the story and they can do this by making a comment under your complaint. Most importantly, you must mark your complaint as "Resolved" once your problem has been sorted.

You can easily find complaints just by browsing our categories. The top-level categories are at our homepage and as well as under the "Browse" tab. As you click on the categories, sub-categories are revealed allowing you to narrow your results to the exact business type you're looking for. You can also sort complaints by the five filters found in the "Sort by" bar. These are Latest Complaints, Oldest Complaints, Most Viewed, Most Comments & Most Thumbs Down.

Using search is the fastest way to locate complaints on a specific business or organisation. Simply enter the business name in the search box and hit search. You can also narrow down your search by selecting one of our top-level categories.

You can easily narrow your search to just a sub-category. To do this you first need to browse to that sub-category. As you browse, you'll notice that the dropdown list automatically selects the sub-category you're browsing. Your search would then be narrowed down to just that sub-category.

You can filter your search results using the time span you prefer. The five filters are found in the "Posted" bar. These are Any Time, Within Past 3 Months, Within Past 6 Months, This Year & Last Year.

If you have the actual complaint number, you can go directly to that complaint using the search. Basically you select the last option from the dropdown list which is "Complaint number". You then enter the actual complaint number in the search box and hit search. You'll end up at the complaint.

Our main search lets you narrow your search down to region level only. But the "more filters" link next to the search button takes you a different search page. This page lets you narrow down your search to a specific district. It also has options for narrowing down your search based on sub-category.

You can add complaints to your favourites using the "Save to Favourites" button found on all complaints pages. You can then see what's in your favourites by clicking on the "Favourites" link found in your account page. The number next to the "Favourites" link shows how many complaints are currently in your favourites.

You'll also find the thumbs down button on each complaints page. Any member can click on the thumbs down button. We allow only one click per member for each complaint.

Although we encourage consumers and businesses to post comments under complaints, we do have certain guidelines that everyone needs to follow. Below is a simple guideline to follow when posting comments.

Businesses must also read our Complaint resolving policy.

Members and businesses can email any other member using our contact form. Simply click on the email icon found next to the user name of the complainant or comment poster. Please note that sending an email will reveal your email address to the member receiving the email so that the receiver can respond. You should not email other members if you do not want the receiver to see your email address.

Next to your user name are two sets of numbers. The number on the left is the count of how many complaints you've submitted. The number on the right is the count of how many comments you've posted. We call this information your Activity Status. Please see illustration below.

Although a lot of businesses will happily work with consumers to resolve complaints, there would be situations where you'd need additional help to get your problem sorted. Apart from submitting your complaint at Consumer Complaints, you have four other possible avenues you can try and pursue.

The first is to find out who is the best person to talk to within the business. You'll need to talk to someone who is a key decision maker. Explain your complaint to the person. Please don't shout or make a scene. Be polite but firm and clearly explain your situation.

If option #1 doesn't work out, you need to find out if the business has a governing body or is part of a bigger network such as a franchise. A lot of businesses belong to certain governing bodies such as a car yard could belong to the Motor Vehicle Dealers Association. If the business belongs to a governing body, you should approach the decision maker of that governing body with your complaint. If the business is part of a franchise or some other network then you can approach the decision maker of that network.

If option #1 & 2 don't work out, you can take the business to disputes tribunal. It's the cheapest means of legally settling disputes without going to a fully-fledged court or using lawyers. A mediator called the referee will listen to both sides of the story and make a decision. Google "disputes tribunal" to find the branch nearest to you and many sites with tons of information on it.

If all options fail, taking the business to court could be the answer. But please be warned that hiring a lawyer can be very expensive (anywhere from $150 - $300+ per hour). Your legal bill could far outweigh the value of the claim you may be pursuing and there are no guarantees that you'll win. So unless your dispute amount is substantial or if you believe that you will win, we do not recommend this option.

At the bottom of each complaint page we have a link titled "Report this complaint". You can report a complaint or comment to us by using that link. The reporting page has a list of reasons why someone might want to report a complaint.

The fastest way to locate complaints against your business is to search for your business name. However, there is the possibility that the complainant could have misspelled your business name. So we recommend you also browse through the appropriate categories. Try using the "More filters" link found next to the search button. That link will take you to a different page with many search options. That page allows you to quickly narrow down your category and district applicable to your specific business.

Here's a guideline we suggest you follow when trying to resolve complaints.

One of the main reasons consumers post complaints at websites is because they believe that business will not take the time out to listen to their complaints. So it's very important you respond as soon as you find a complaint against your business. You should respond even before you do your internal investigations. Simply let the complainant know that you're looking into the issue and will report back soon. You can make this first contact by posting a comment under the complaint or by emailing the complainant using our contact form.

After reading the complaint and conducting your internal investigation, you should have a fair idea of the exact reasons of the complaint. If you get many complaints based around the same reasons then you need to reanalyse your business processes and find a way to minimise the issue in future.

Your aim should be to get the complaint resolved. And the best way to do that is by working with the complainant in order to work out a solution. You don't necessarily have to give in to all the demands made by the complainant. But work out a deal instead where both parties can be happy. Just by being apologetic, professional and sincere you should be able to resolve most of your complaints.

We've tried our best to structure this site in such a way so that only genuine complaints are submitted. But if you find yourself with a complaint that seems non-genuine, there are some easy steps you can take to scare off the complainant. The first is to ask the complainant to supply evidence of their encounter with your business. Asking for specifics such as "who you dealt with?", "what date was the purchase made?", "what is the model or make of the item", etc. If the complainant cannot correctly respond to your questions, you have the right to post a comment under the complaint stating that the complaint is not genuine. Also list your reasons as to why you believe the complaint is not genuine.

The best way to minimise the chances of getting a complaint is not to over promise and under deliver. Almost all complaints arise when there is a discrepancy between what the customer expects and what they actually get. And in order to meet customer expectations you must train your staff to listen to your customers' needs carefully. If a customer's expectations are met, he/she will be happy. And a happy customer won't have any reason to submit a complaint. But if things do go wrong, you have to keep the customer posted as to what is being done to give them what they expected and paid for. Put yourself in their shoes. You wouldn't want to be mucked around, would you? So don't expect your customers to put up with it either.

There is no such a thing as "problem customers". Only rarely would you encounter a truly unreasonable customer. Most times customers become a problem when your business cannot meet their expectations (as discussed above in "Minimise your chances of getting a complaint"). Having to resolve issues your customers complain about is just part of doing business. No business is immune from this aspect of customer service.

Still need help? Contact us now.