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ILD Teleservices, is a clearing house for LEC billing and alternative payment options, such as e-checks, ACH and micro payments. ILD performs payment processing services for communications companies, digital content providers, and other online vendors in North America. Founded in 1996, the company is headquartered in Ponte Vedra, Florida. In recent years, the company has been the subject of many consumer complaints as well as legal action brought by at least two states and the Federal Trade Commission. In 2003, ILD settled with the Federal Trade Commission.
The New National Consumer Council, operating as Consumer Futures, was a non-departmental public body and statutory consumer organisation in England, Wales, Scotland, and, for postal services, Northern Ireland. It was established by the Consumers, Estate Agents and Redress Act 2007, and began operations in 2008 by the merging of Postwatch, Energywatch and the Welsh, Scottish and National Consumer Councils under the Consumer Focus brand.
Ombudsmen in Australia are independent agencies who assist when a dispute arises between individuals and industry bodies or government agencies. Government ombudsman services are free to the public, like many other ombudsman and dispute resolution services, and are a means of resolving disputes outside of the court systems. Australia has an ombudsman assigned for each state; as well as an ombudsman for the Commonwealth of Australia. As laws differ between states just one process, or policy, cannot be used across the Commonwealth. All government bodies are within the jurisdiction of the ombudsman.
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The Property Ombudsman (TPO) scheme is an ombudsman in the United Kingdom. It has been providing consumers and property agents with an alternative dispute resolution service since 1990.
The European Consumer Centres Network (ECC-Net) is an EU-wide network. There is a national contact point called European Consumer Centre (ECC) in all 27 EU Member States, as well as in Iceland and Norway. ECCs provide consumers with information about the opportunities and risks of the European Single Market and also regarding cross-border consumer topics, such as travel, various services, and the purchase of goods and services. The ECC-Net is staffed by legal experts who assist consumers free of charge to solve any dispute that may arise with enterprises based in another EU country, Norway, or Iceland. The ECCs are co-financed by the European Commission and national governments aiming to protect consumer rights and ensure that every EU citizen may take full advantage of the European Single Market. Depending on the formal structure some ECCs are hosted by non-governmental organizations (NGOs), governmental bodies, or independent organizations.
The Furniture & Home Improvement Ombudsman (FHIO), formerly The Furniture Ombudsman (TFO) is an independent not for profit organisation based in the United Kingdom. It specialises in alternative dispute resolution for customers of its members in the retail, furniture and home improvement industries. As a membership-based scheme, it also provides training and education services to its members which aim to raise standards, improve service and inspire consumer confidence. Kevin Grix, a non-practising barrister, was appointed the Chief Ombudsman in 2008.
The Consumer Council is an independent statutory authority in Hong Kong, established in 1974 and formalised in April 1977 under the Consumer Council Ordinance. Its role is to enhance consumer welfare and empower consumers to protect themselves. As shown below, over the course of the past four decades, the expansion in the council's duties and services on consumer protection, such as the publishing of the CHOICE Magazine in 1976, the recent launch of online price-watching tools, and conducting studies on different aspects of the consumer market, have coincided with the socio-economic development of Hong Kong. Apart from being a consumer advisor, it has assumed the role as a key stakeholder in making of consumer-related policies.
References
- Consumer Direct website
- Technical documentation
- Independent article
- Consumer Direct helpline to be run by Citizens Advice
- Public bodies review: consumer bodies [ permanent dead link ]
- Citizens Advice consumer service
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