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Complaints Procedure

RDO / Consumers / Complaints Procedure

The Resort Development Organisation (RDO) is the European trade association for the vacation and timeshare industry in Europe. RDO membership is open to all companies which work within, for or on behalf of the vacation industry, including resort developers, exchange companies, management companies, resale companies, consumer credit institutions, trustees and legal professionals.

RDO is in the first instance a trade association representing the timeshare industry in Europe. RDO therefore represents member companies and as such looks after their interests. However, RDO’s consumer policy allows for consumers to address complaints about members with RDO. RDO provides this consumer service free-of-charge and aims to resolve valid complaints against member companies.

RDO’s members believe that it is important that RDO undertakes this service for the consumer and count on RDO being fair and equitable. RDO has full authority to rule on consumer complaints logged against members. It has to be emphasised however that RDO will mediate between its members and consumers filing complaints but will not enter into any legal sanctions against its members.

However, if RDO establishes that a member continuously breaches its Code of Ethics or acts with intent outside the law, the membership Council will investigate the case, following set procedures.

RDO has established the following procedures for handling consumer complaints:-

  • Before RDO will investigate any complaint against a member, the complainant must first demonstrate that they have first attempted to resolve the complaint directly with the RDO member.
  • RDO will send to the complainant a letter acknowledging the complaint and asking them to complete a Complaint Registration Form.
  • Once all relevant information has been received, the consumer will be sent a communication indicating that the member company to which the complaint relates has been contacted. The complainant is advised that the company in question will respond directly to the customer within the next 21 working days.
  • NB If it is clear from the documentation received from the client that the complaint is not valid, the client will be contacted to advise that RDO will not take up the case on their behalf.
  • At the same time as contacting the complainant, RDO will contact the member company indicating what course of action, based on the information received from the consumer it expects the company to take.
  • The company is given 14 working days to respond directly to the complainant and is expected to provide a copy of its response to RDO.
  • If, however, the company disagrees with the preliminary decision made by the Secretariat or wishes to propose an alternative solution, the company must provide, again within the 14 day deadline, evidence to back-up their viewpoint. If the requested is not provided, RDO will judge the case on the evidence received from the consumer.
  • If, however, an alternative course of action is proposed which is approved by RDO, the company should make contact with the complainant within the 14 day period, forwarding a copy of the correspondence to RDO. A short extension to this deadline may be agreed.
  • If a company fails to respond to RDO, the Secretariat will write to the company again and request that the complaint is resolved within 7 days. A letter is sent to the consumer asking them to wait a further 14 days.
  • If the company fails to respond at this point or fails to rectify an unsatisfactory response in line with the RDO Code of Ethics, then a letter will be prepared by the Secretariat and sent recorded delivery to the company concerned. This letter will outline to the company that their failure to respond is a breach of the RDO Code of Conduct and if the breach is not immediately rectified, then the company will be referred to the RDO Board of Directors, who will investigate and take appropriate action in accordance with the RDO Code of Conduct.
  • If upon receipt of the response from the RDO member, the complainant remains dissatisfied, RDO will inform the consumer that it cannot assist further in the resolution of the complaint, and details of the RDO Alternative Dispute Resolution Scheme, which is independently administered by NetNeutrals, will be sent to the complainant.

Download the RDO complaint registration form here

Please note that the RDO complaint registration form should only be used for complaints about RDO members, if you are unsure if the company you wish to register a complaint or enquiry about is an RDO member, you can search our members list here or send an email to info@rdo.org