• 1800 500 903

Complaints Handling Policy

Guthy-Renker Australia Pty Ltd is committed to effectively, efficiently, expeditiously and fairly handling all complaints about its goods and services. Guthy-Renker Australia recognises that:

  • Customers may have complaints about its goods and services from time to time;
  • Customers have a right to make a complaint;
  • Complaints offer us the opportunity to gain feedback about our goods and services and improve the way we do business;
  • We may avoid disputes by having an effective communications strategy;
  • Disputes generally do not arise with any person whose complaint has been adequately dealt with by us; and
  • We must have a procedure for properly handling and recording all customer complaints, free of charge, which is known to staff and customers.

Modes of complaint

Customers may complain to us by:

  • telephoning our Customer Service Unit on 1800 500 903
    (outside Australia please call +61 2 8754 6700)
  • writing to our Customer Service Unit:
    • by mail at:
      Guthy-Renker Complaints
      Reply Paid 3606
      PO Box 3606
      Rhodes NSW 2138
    • sending the letter by fax to no. 1800 454 894; or
    • by email using email address complaints@guthy-renker.com.au

Telephone Complaints

A Supervisor/Team Leader in the Customer Service Unit in the first instance or, in their absence, the Complaints Officer must deal with all customer complaints. If neither of these is available, the representative who is speaking with the customer must ask for the customer's contact number and preferred time to be contacted so that the Supervisor/Team Leader or Complaints Officer can phone them back within 24 hours. The Supervisor/Team Leader or Complaints Officer must do so within 24 hours.

If a complaint handler is unable to deal with a complaint immediately, they must notify the customer how long it will take them to investigate the complaint and respond. In the absence of exceptional circumstances, this period should not exceed 5 business days.

If the Supervisor/Team Leader are unable to resolve a complaint, they must refer it to the Complaints Officer. If the Complaints Officer is unable to resolve a complaint, they must refer it to the Customer Service Manager.

All complaint handlers must, in their dealings with customers:

  • identify themselves, ascertain what the customer wants and confirm with the customer that their understanding of this is correct;
  • be courteous and listen carefully;
  • if they cannot resolve the complaint immediately, explain what they propose to do to address the complaint;
  • check whether the proposed action is acceptable to the consumer and, if it is not, notify them of alternative action available to them; and
  • not be defensive or argue with customers.

Written Complaints

All written complaints must be processed in accordance with Guthy-Renker's Internal Mail Fast Written Complaints procedure between 1 and 10 days of receipt, depending on the nature of the complaint.

Cultural Differences

Guthy-Renker Australia recognises that its customers come from a wide range of cultural and often non-English speaking, backgrounds. It also recognises that customers whose first language is not English may need additional assistance to communicate their complaint and have it effectively handled.

If a complaint handler receives:

  • a written complaint in a language other than English; or
  • a telephone complaint from a person who has limited English language skills, the complaint handler must obtain the assistance of a “help professional” with the appropriate language skills to assist with the handling of the complaint.

Recording complaint outcome

Our complaint handlers must keep a record of:

  • the nature of each complaint they deal with;
  • the product the subject of the complaint;
  • the outcome of the complaint; and
  • the response time
  • in the customer's electronic file and the electronic complaints log (Attachment 1).

Publication of Complaints Procedure

Guthy-Renker Australia publishes its complaint procedure to customers by:

  • publishing this Complaints Handling Policy on our website at www.guthy-renker.com.au
  • and referring to it in our delivery advices

We will publicise this policy to our staff by:

  • referring to it in trade practices training of staff;
  • sending it to staff individually; and
  • displaying it in our workplace.

16th February 2007