# Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA) - How effective?



## rederob (31 May 2022)

Last year I made a complaint to *AFCA *about a relatively small matter about an investment product, so what happened and what was the outcome?

Stop: there was a step between, and that was to try and find out from the institution why they were processing transactions that were not agreed, and if their internal complaints process would solve the problem.  When I got no joy from that, I escalated my complaint.

My next step was to call AFCA to see what, if anything, AFCA could do in relation to my concerns.  Their phone advice was excellent, so I followed up with my complaint via their platform, which was a very simple process and quickly responded to.  (They copy back your complaint so there's no need to write it into another program and paste it into AFCA's platform.)

In making a complaint it's important to be clear about the outcome you want, even if it might include things over which AFCA has no jurisdiction, eg., matters that might need to be forwarded to ASIC for response.  There is every chance the complaint to AFCA will see an institution do their utmost to ensure matters you raise go no further.

AFCA emails you back with a case reference number and forwards the written complaint to the institution concerned, giving them up to a month to respond.  Ideally the institution makes direct contact and seeks to resolve the complaint that way.  Parties then contact AFCA to advise the complaint is resolved.

In my case the institution took over a month to respond in writing and did not address any of the concerns I raised.  As a result I was then allocated a "case analyst" from AFCA to assist me resolve my complaint.  This has been an interesting process as the institution has made repeated errors in attempting to confirm terms for resolving my complaint, to the extent my original complaint was added to!

Although I have accepted the recompense offered by the institution to settle my complaint, we have reached a new impasse.  It seems the institution wants to ensure that some of the matters which formed the basis of my complaint never see the light of day again, and that I sign-off on such an outcome.  I would like to think that if anyone asked me about my experience with this institution that I could tell them, and not become the subject of litigation.

AFCA has said that the above practice is not uncommon, and maybe that explains why people continue to use financial service providers that are as prone to make as many mistakes as mine.

By the way, even me using my pseudonym on any social media forum offers no protection should I sign off as they prefer.  So some 22 weeks later, and with sound guidance from AFCA, the fat lady - or non-gender-specific person of great girth - remains in the wings.


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