Consumer Complaints And Complaint Forums Employed In The South African Motor Vehicle Service Industry: A Survey Of The Literature

Abstract

A South African consumer who owns a motor vehicle will need to have it serviced at a motor vehicle service dealership. The level of service experienced by consumers is not always satisfactory, leaving the consumer dissatisfied and wanting to complain about the poor service. The complaint forums available to South African consumers can roughly be divided into two categories, namely those established under South African law (which include the National Consumer Tribunal; the National Consumer Commission; the Motor Industry Ombud of South Africa; a consumer court; an alternative dispute resolution agent; and an ordinary court); and other traditional complaint forums (which include complaint websites and complaints made to the dealer directly). When deciding on the most appropriate complaint forum, consumers must consider the following factors: the cost of and time spent on the complaint process; the complexity of the rules and procedures associated with each complaint forum; the effective functioning of each forum; and the relief that the consumer can expect to receive from the complaint forum. This study found that when measured against these factors, consumers are left with few viable complaint forums. The structure and functioning of the existing complaint forums remains far from perfect. However, inroads have been made to improve the current complaint forums. Further improvements will only be achieved through a concerted effort by all the industry players. Such collaboration between them will ensure that South African consumers in the motor vehicle service industry will be ranked amongst the best protected consumers in the world.