The Exchange marketplace is governed by a set of regulations and policies. Should any disputes arise between members either during a load booking or after, our complaints team will do their best to mediate and help the members come to an amicable agreement.
We have a specific framework in place for handling different types of complaints and feedback disputes. Making a complaint against another member will damage your business relationship with the other member.
It's for this reason that we encourage you to read these cases carefully and be conscious of the likely outcome for each.
IN THIS ARTICLE
- How we handle payment complaints
- How we handle delivery complaints
- How we handle abusive/threatening language or behaviour complaints
- How we moderate feedback
How we handle payment complaints
There are five different types of payment-related complaints that our team has procedures in place for. Unfortunately, we can't assist with payment complaints made 90 days past the due date of invoice and these will be dismissed.
1. Cancellation of a booking
Definition: When a load poster or carrier cancels a confirmed load booking and payment/damages are requested from the other member, but the money hasn't been received.
Evidence required: N/A
The procedure: A member of our team will log in to the Exchange, visit the diary of the member who raised the payment complaint, search the load ID, bring up the load, confirm that the load was cancelled.
The policy response/outcome: Transport Exchange Group cannot intervene in disputes regarding additional charges following the cancellation of a load booking. It must be resolved between the members themselves or the small claims court.
Penalty if the complaint is upheld: N/A
2. Other additional charges
Definition: When a driver requests additional payment for unforeseen circumstances like waiting times and additional work.
Evidence required: N/A
The procedure: Our team will reject the complaint and send the member a link to the policy in our Help Centre.
The policy response/outcome: Transport Exchange Group cannot intervene in disputes regarding additional charges following the cancellation of a load booking. It must be resolved between the members themselves or the small claims court.
Penalty if the complaint is upheld: N/A
3. International bank charges
Definition: When a payment is issued by the load poster but deducts from the original amount due to international bank charges and a dispute is raised as to who is responsible for these charges.
Evidence required: There must be evidence in the booking footer of the load that the load poster agrees to pay international bank charges.
The procedure: Our team will log in to the Exchange, visit the diary of the member in question, search the load ID, bring up the load, check the booking footer.
The policy response/outcome: If there was no evidence in the booking footer, Transport Exchange Group does not get involved. If there is evidence, we will uphold the complaint and request that the member pays the agreed amount in full.
Penalty if the complaint is upheld:
- First offence - member receives a warning valid for six months.
- Second offence - the member is restricted from posting loads for a week.
4. Booking footer instructions were ignored
Definition: The instructions on the booking footer of the load were ignored/not followed.
Evidence required: Evidence showing that the instructions on the booking footer of the load were ignored/not followed.
The procedure: Our team will email the member who raised the complaint and request evidence that the other member ignored instructions on the booking footer. Once we receive that evidence, we'll review it and come to a final verdict.
The policy response/outcome: The booking footer instructions must be followed by all members of the Exchange. Transport Exchange Group cannot intervene if evidence proves that instructions were ignored. This member must be able to supply us with evidence upon complaint submission. If the complaint ends up being upheld against the affected member, it will be detailed as feedback on the system and marked negative.
Penalty if the complaint is upheld:
- If the first and second offence happens within three months - the complaint is detailed as feedback on the system and marked negative. The member will be provided with a warning and will be enrolled in additional training/best practice advice.
- Further offence within these three months - the member will be given a one-month suspension.
- Further offence post-suspension within six months - marked for membership revocation.
Each penalty applied to a member's account will be reset after three months.
5. No payment
Definition: The member is claiming that they haven't received payment even after the required documents have been sent and received.
Evidence required: Evidence that all the right documentation required for payment was provided and sent via post with a postage reference number and copies of this evidence supplied to our team.
The procedure: Our team will email the member who hasn't actioned payment to enquire why this is so. Upon response, we'll make a judgement on when payment will be made provided the following documents have been received:
- PODs
- Invoice
- Statement of Invoices
The policy response/outcome:
- If the member hasn't made payment within 24 hours, we have the right to suspend the account.
- If the member hasn't made payment by the end of the month, we have the right to mark them for revocation.
Regardless of whether the account is suspended or marked for revocation, the complaint will be upheld against the offending member.
Penalty if the complaint is upheld:
- First offence - the complaint is upheld and a warning (valid for three months) will be sent against further complaints detailing their options: 1) Restricted loads or 2) Change in payment terms.
- Further offence(s) - this triggers a scalable review by our complaints team. We can impose restrictions on a member's load-posting activities, as well as completely removing the ability for them to post loads. We will provide clear guidance as to how restrictions can be lifted while monitoring the account for further complaints. If this activity continues, it could lead to a suspension or revocation of the membership entirely.
How we handle delivery complaints
There are ten different types of delivery-related complaints that our team has procedures in place for. Due to feedback we've received from our members about retaliatory feedback, we no longer assist with delivery complaints made 30 days after the delivery date and will dismiss them without further action.
1. Co-loading
Definition: When a driver accepts an additional load booking without documented permission from both parties.
Evidence required: Evidence of multiple load bookings being completed as reflected on the system.
The procedure: Our complaints team will log in to the Exchange, visit the diary of the member in question, search for the date of the booking, find the load in question and compare to see if there is any overlap.
The policy response/outcome: If no evidence is provided that this was permitted by both parties prior to the booking being completed, the complaint will be upheld against the offending member.
Penalty if the complaint is upheld:
- First offence - a warning will be given (valid for one year) and additional diary management and rules training required.
- Second offence (within the same year) - a one-month suspension will apply (the account will be restricted) and a final warning will be issued to the member which is valid for life.
- Further offence(s) after a final warning issued - the account will be revoked with 2-year minimum enforcement.
2. Branded PODs
Definition: When a POD includes the information/branding of a driver or company.
Evidence required: Evidence of a POD having been submitted with personal branding/company information on it.
The procedure: Our team will email the member who made the complaint and ask to see the POD. Once we've received it, we'll review it and establish whether there was personal branding/company information on it.
The policy response/outcome: Using branded PODs falls under the realm of poaching customers. The complaint will be upheld if evidence shows that there was personal branding/company information on the POD.
Penalty if the complaint is upheld:
- First offence - a warning will be given and further training required (warning valid for the life of membership)
- Second offence - depending on the circumstances and severity of the offence, enforcement could range from a further warning being given to suspension and even revocation of the membership.
3. Poaching customers
Definition: When an attempt is made to steal a customer from another member on the Exchange after a load booking is confirmed (appears in the diary) in the CX/HX system. Please see our policy on poaching customers for more guidance on how we approach these claims.
Evidence required: If a poaching complaint is raised, our team will need documented evidence confirming the actions of the other member advertising their own business.
- Customer statement
- CCTV footage
- Digital evidence (CCTV footage, photos, phone conversation recordings)
The procedure: Our team would email the member who raised the complaint asking for evidence to justify their claims of the other member advertising their own business. We will then review all the evidence submitted and decide if it's credible.
How we determine if the evidence is credible:
- The email must have the customer's signature
- The phone conversation recording must be approved by both parties on the call to be admissable
- Whatsapp/ text screenshots are not substantial without an accompanying email from the customer to verify their accuracy.
The policy response/outcome: The complaint will not be upheld unless the other member can provide our team with documented evidence outlined above.
We strongly urge members to engage with one another to review all the circumstances and agree on a resolution. If this is not possible, we will review the evidence submitted and assess the case in line with the following questions:
- Was the action proven to be deliberate?
- How serious was the action taken?
- Is there evidence to prove the offence? If not, the complaint will be dismissed.
- Is this a first or repeated offence?
- Was the previous load completed within two years?
* In most cases acceptable evidence will consist of:
- Customer Account
- Photo evidence (branding & PODs)
- Diary evidence
Once the complaint has been submitted, reviewed, and decided, that decision is final and not subject to appeal. It is important to recognise the severity of the consequences of a deliberate attempt to poach another member’s customer.
Penalty if the complaint is upheld: If there is clear, undisputed evidence of an attempt to poach a customer, we have the right to enforce a lifetime membership revocation.
4. Load booking cancellation as a result of a conflicting booking
Definition: The member eQuoting on a load has already accepted another booking.
Evidence required: There is evidence of cancellation in the system via the diary.
The procedure: Our team will log in to the Exchange, visit the diary of the load poster in question, search for the load ID, check the time of posting and booking confirmation/allocation and if possible the time the quote was sent. We will then check this against the time of cancellation in the system and access whether it was cancelled within reasonable notice or not.
The policy response/outcome: If the member quoted on several loads and is allocated multiple bookings within a specific time frame (for example, within 5 minutes), it is the responsibility of the quoting member to immediately dismiss/decline and inform the load poster that they are no longer available either by a phone call or email. There must be evidence that they made a clear effort to ensure that the load poster is aware of their change in availability. If this evidence is present, the complaint will be dismissed and the quoting member will be warned about excessive quoting.
Penalty if the complaint is upheld:
- First offence - a warning will be given to the offending member and they'll be given mandatory training on quoting best practices.
- Multiple offences (within a short timeline) - the member's account will be reviewed and a final decision enforced.
5. Load booking cancellation without reasonable notice
Definition: A carrier cancelling a load booking without reasonable notice. It is the responsibility of the member transporting the load to either accept or dismiss the load booking upon receipt in the system.
Evidence required: There must be evidence of a load booking cancellation in the system via the diary. If the load booking is found to still exist in the system, we won't accept any other form of evidence.
The procedure: Our team will log in to the Exchange, visit the diary of the member in question, search the load ID, bring up the load booking, confirm that the load was cancelled, assess whether the cancellation was done within the reasonable notice.
The policy response/outcome: Once the load booking is accepted by the carrier, they are responsible for that load. If the booking is cancelled without giving the load poster reasonable notice, the carrier is at fault. Only in exceptional circumstances, like an accident or breakdown, will the evidence be considered.
Penalty if the complaint is upheld:
-
First offence (evidence that the booking was accepted) - the member will receive a final warning and additional training recommended (valid for one year).
- First offence (evidence that the booking was not accepted) - our complaints team will review the circumstances and enforce a proportionate penalty, which can range from finding no fault, to a warning.
- Second offence - membership revocation (2-year minimum enforcement)
6. Load booking cancellation for a lower price
Definition: When a load poster cancels a load booking with a carrier because they've found another member who can do the delivery at a lower price.
Evidence required: There must be evidence of cancellation and re-allocation to another member who quoted a lower price for the same load.
The procedure: Our team will log in to the Exchange, visit the diary of the member in questions, search the load ID, bring up the load booking, confirm that it was cancelled, and check that the same load was re-allocated to another member at a lower cost.
The policy response/outcome: Once a load is allocated and accepted, the load poster and carrier have entered into a contract. If our team finds clear evidence of load re-allocation for a lower price, the complaint will be upheld.
Penalty if the complaint is upheld:
- First offence - the member is issued with a warning.
- Further offence(s) - this triggers a scalable review by our complaints team based on the number of loads posted within the period of initial and secondary offence. Depending on the circumstance, we can impose restrictions with clear guidance as to how these are lifted or we will impose additional recorded warnings.
7. Load booking cancellation without reasonable timing or while a booking is in progress
Definition: When a load poster cancels a booking without reasonable timing or while the carrier is already moving the load.
Evidence required: We require evidence of the cancellation on our system via the diary. If the system shows that the booking wasn't cancelled, we won't accept any other form of evidence. Our team will do their best to review every effort the load poster claims they made to cancel the load within a reasonable time.
The procedure: Our team will log in to the Exchange, visit the diary of the member in question, find the load ID, bring up the booking, check the collection time of the load against the cancellation time.
The policy response/outcome: The complaint will be upheld if it was cancelled on short notice or while the booking was already in progress without satisfactory explanation (the load was cancelled by the customer with proof).
Penalty if the complaint is upheld:
- First offence - the member is issued with a warning.
- Further offence(s) - this triggers a scalable review by our complaints team based on the number of loads posted within the period of initial and secondary offence. Depending on the circumstance we can impose restrictions with clear guidance as to how these are lifted or we will impose additional recorded warnings.
8. Delivery times not being met
Definition: When load collection or drop off times aren't met.
Evidence required: There must be evidence on our system that shows the pickup and drop-off times of the load.
The procedure: Our team will log in to the Exchange, visit the diary of the member in question, search the booking date, bring up the load, confirm that the load was completed in line with expectations, investigate the diary for co-loading as this is often the reason why times aren't met, and review all this information to come to a decision.
The policy response/outcome: The complaint will be upheld if the times weren't met (collected or delivered the load late) without any evidence of exceptional circumstances.
Penalty if the complaint is upheld:
- First offence - the member will be issued with a warning and their account will be suspended (valid for one year) and additional diary management with rules training required.
- Second offence - the member will be given a one-month suspension (their account will be restricted) and a final warning will be issued (valid for the lifetime of membership).
- Further offence(s) - Their account will be revoked (two-year minimum enforcement).
9. Damaged goods upon arrival
Definition: When goods arrive damaged at the drop off destination after completion of the load booking.
Evidence required: N/A
The procedure: Our team will respond to the member who raised the complaint and advise them to contact their insurance provider. We will also outline that once a decision is reached by the insurer, the member must come back to us and provide us with evidence of that insurer's decision. Once a verdict is reached as to who is at fault, we will update the details of the complaint in the system.
The policy response/outcome: The complaint will only be upheld if the insurer comes to that decision. Transport Exchange group won't get involved in the case and the member whose goods were damaged upon delivery will be advised to leave negative feedback on the other member.
Penalty if the complaint is upheld: Our team keeps a record of these instances to spot patterns. If a member has two or more incidents within six months, the member will be retrained and warned that we could potentially take action should the behaviour persist. This could result in a refusal for membership renewal or suspending their account.
If the insurance provider is of the opinion that the complaint should be upheld:
- First offence - the member will be issued with a warning and be retrained.
- Second offence (within a year) - the member's account will be suspended for two weeks.
How we handle abusive/threatening language or behaviour complaints
Definition: When a member has abused or used threatening behaviour towards another member of the Exchange or a member of Exchange staff.
Evidence required: We require written evidence that this behaviour took place in the form of text messages or emails. No audio will be accepted.
The procedure: Our team will request to see evidence of this threatening/abusive behaviour if it hasn't already been submitted. We will then review whether the evidence provided is in written form and if it can be considered threatening.
The policy response/outcome: We do not tolerate or accept threatening behaviour on the Exchange. If a member sends threatening messages to another member on the Exchange or to one of our staff, the complaint will be upheld immediately.
Penalty if the complaint is upheld:
- If the case is debatable, we will issue the offending member with a warning.
- If we are provided with substantial evidence, we can revoke the offender's membership immediately without a warning.
- If we don't have any evidence, our team will be alerted to this member and we'll be tracking them to spot patterns.
How we moderate feedback
Both members in a transaction on the Exchange (load poster and carrier) receive feedback on their service or behaviour once a load is completed. We have a process for feedback moderation in place should a member dispute the feedback they've received after a booking is complete.
Definition: When a member leaves feedback/reviews the other member's service after a completed transaction on the Exchange.
Members have the option to report feedback as 'abuse' if they feel the rating they've received is unfair or inaccurate. If a member goes down this path, the feedback will be removed from public view on the Exchange while our complaints team investigates further. The team will come to a decision as to whether the feedback should be reinstated or dismissed.
Please keep in mind: As long as the feedback left on another member complies with our feedback policy, we will not mediate between two members. We will only intervene when a dispute is raised.
Evidence required: N/A
The procedure: If the feedback received is in accordance with our policy, no formal investigation will take place. We will simply review the complaint submission against our existing policy.
- If the feedback complies with our policy, an email will be sent to the member raising the complaint with a link to the policy.
- If the feedback doesn't comply with our policy, our team will remove the feedback and notify each member accordingly of the decision reached.
The policy response/outcome: Our team will advise the member to refer to our feedback policy.
Penalty if the complaint is upheld: Our team will remove the feedback.
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