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Ombudsman service comes to Edinburgh to meet disgruntled consumers

Edinburgh resident’s unhappy with the service they have received from a company are being urged to come and speak to an Ombudsman during a free two- day roadshow in the city this week.

Advisors from Ombudsman Services, the largest multi-sector ombudsman in the UK and a not-for-profit organisation who operate at no cost to the public purse or to consumers, will be on hand at the Cameron Toll Shopping Centre to hear complaints from about products or services which they feel haven’t been adequately handled by the company.

Consumers with a complaint about their energy, mobile phone or broadband service are particularly urged to come and speak to the team. Last year, Ombudsman Services Last year we handled over 95,000 complaints in the UK.  9,385 of those were from Scotland, with the majority from the energy or communications sector.

The team will be available on Thursday 25^th and Friday 26^th August from 9am – 5pm at Cameron Toll Shopping Centre.

Chief Executive, Lewis Shand-Smith, said: “We’re holding these roadshows events around the country to raise awareness of the work Ombudsman Services do and how we can act as a mediator in helping to resolve disputes between consumers and companies.

“People complain about a wide variety of things but, primarily, what we see is complaints about billing, people paying for a service they do not then actually receive.  In cases like this we are able to step in and try to find a resolution.”

“What we do is free to the public, the companies who have agreed to work with us pay for our services.  The decisions we make are legally binding on the company but the consumer maintains their right to take further legal action if they are not satisfied with the outcome.”

“We know that Scottish people complain less than others in the UK so I hope as many Edinburgh residents will come and speak to us and learn about how they can get the kind of customer service they deserve.”

Ombudsman Services find that the retail sector is where people experience the most problems, with 31% of all complaints being about that sector.  Energy providers and telecommunications companies, providing broadband, mobile phones contracts etc, also attract a significant number of complaints.

Further information about Ombudsman Services can be found at www.ombudsman-services.org