Complaints Handling Policy

1.Policy statement

Visual Business Retail Limited is committed to dealing with complaints fairly, promptly, consistently and respectfully. Customers will not be disadvantaged for raising a genuine complaint. VBR will take ownership of receiving and tracking a complaint even where another organisation must investigate or decide part of it.

2.Scope

This policy applies to complaints from business customers, prospective customers, dealers, partners and other stakeholders concerning:

• hardware supplied by VBR, including POS terminals, printers, scanners and related peripherals;
• VBR-developed or supplied software and services, including EPOS, UPOS, SPOS Cloud Reporting, loyalty and online ordering;
• installation, configuration, training, support, maintenance, invoicing and other contracted services;
• website orders and communications where VBR is the contracting seller;
• VBR’s introduction, promotion, application assistance, onboarding coordination or support for merchant services supplied under a separate agreement by a merchant-services provider; and
• the conduct of VBR staff, contractors, dealers or authorised representatives.

A technical support request, warranty claim, return request, data-subject request, security incident, chargeback, transaction dispute or debt query may follow a specialist procedure. Any expressed dissatisfaction about VBR’s service or handling will still be recorded under this policy.

3.Meaning of a complaint

A complaint is an expression of dissatisfaction, whether justified or not, about VBR’s products, services, actions, omissions, decisions or complaint handling, where a response or resolution is explicitly or reasonably expected.

Routine questions, support requests and feature suggestions are not complaints unless dissatisfaction is expressed or the matter remains unresolved and is escalated.

4.Merchant-services roles and boundaries

VBR may introduce or resell merchant services alongside its EPOS, cloud reporting, loyalty and online-ordering solutions. The merchant-services provider and any relevant acquirer supply the regulated payment services under their own merchant agreement. Unless expressly confirmed otherwise in writing:

• VBR is the customer-facing introducer, reseller or support coordinator and is not the provider of acquiring, payment processing or settlement services;
• VBR does not approve merchant applications, perform regulated underwriting, decide settlement holds, determine chargebacks or make final decisions on regulated payment-service complaints;
• the merchant-services provider remains responsible for its regulated services, contractual decisions and applicable external-redress information; and
• VBR remains responsible for its own sales conduct, explanations, application assistance, data handling, promises, support, records and complaint hand-off.

5.How to make a complaint

A complaint may be made by email, telephone or letter. The complainant should provide its organisation and contact details, customer/site number, relevant order, invoice, application, merchant, terminal, licence, support or transaction reference, what happened and when, the business impact, supporting evidence and the outcome sought.

6.Classification and ownership

7.Service standards

A merchant-services provider’s legal, regulatory and contractual timetable applies to complaints it owns. VBR will not promise a different provider outcome or timescale, but will monitor the referral and keep the customer informed where reasonably possible.

8.Complaint handling process

1. Receive and record. Create a unique complaint reference and preserve the original communication and evidence.
2. Acknowledge and clarify. Confirm the issue understood, complaint owner, expected timescale and any information required.
3. Assess and separate. Identify VBR-owned and provider-owned issues, urgency, conflicts, data-protection matters and security or financial-crime concerns.
4. Investigate impartially. Review relevant contracts, sales records, applications, support tickets, audit logs, communications and staff accounts.
5. Refer securely where required. Obtain or confirm the authority to share information, use the provider’s approved channel, record the referral date/reference and retain only necessary data.
6. Update the customer. Give a clear contact and next step; explain which organisation owns each issue without abandoning VBR’s coordination role.
7. Decide VBR-owned matters. State whether the complaint is upheld, partly upheld or not upheld, the evidence considered, remedy, owner and completion date.
8. Confirm closure and learn. Verify actions, record outcomes, identify root cause and complete corrective or preventive action.

9.Merchant-services referral controls

• Do not investigate, alter or suppress a regulated complaint where the provider must handle it.
• Do not send payment-card data, authentication credentials or unnecessary AML/KYC documents by ordinary email.
• Use the provider’s current approved complaints and secure-document channels.
• Record the provider name internally, merchant reference, referral timestamp, recipient/channel, provider complaint reference and next update date.
• Tell the customer that referral does not transfer responsibility for VBR’s own conduct or service.
• Co-operate promptly with provider, acquirer, ombudsman or regulator requests where lawful and authorised.
• Escalate a missed acknowledgement, material delay or vulnerable-customer concern through the provider’s agreed partnership route.
• Do not state that a customer is eligible for an ombudsman or other external scheme until the provider confirms the applicable entity, product and eligibility.

10.Remedies

Depending on the facts, contract and applicable law, VBR may provide an explanation or apology; correct information or records; repeat an agreed service; arrange repair, replacement or return; deliver a software correction or workaround; provide a credit or refund where due; give staff guidance or training; or implement corrective and preventive action. A merchant-services provider decides remedies relating to its regulated services or merchant agreement.

Offering a remedy does not necessarily amount to an admission of legal liability. Nothing in this policy removes rights or remedies that cannot lawfully be excluded.

11.Escalation, appeal and external routes

A complainant dissatisfied with VBR’s final response may request an internal appeal within 10 working days, stating the reasons and any new evidence. A director or senior manager not responsible for the original decision will review it where practicable.

For a provider-owned complaint, the relevant provider will explain its review process and any applicable external route. Depending on the complaint, this may include an ombudsman, regulator, alternative dispute resolution service, the Information Commissioner’s Office or the courts. VBR will give the provider’s current details rather than presenting those routes as VBR’s own.

12.Fairness, confidentiality and data protection

• Complaints will be handled objectively, respectfully and without discrimination.
• Information will be shared only with those who need it to investigate, decide or implement the outcome.
• Only necessary personal and commercial information will be referred to a provider, using an approved secure channel and lawful basis.
• Anonymous complaints may be investigated where sufficient information is available.
• Conflicts of interest must be declared and managed.
• VBR will distinguish allegations, facts, opinions and findings in its records and communications.

13.Unreasonable behaviour

VBR will remain patient and professional, including where a complainant is distressed or persistent. Aggressive, threatening, abusive, discriminatory or harassing behaviour is not acceptable. VBR may set proportionate communication boundaries or report serious conduct, while continuing to consider the underlying complaint where it can safely and reasonably do so.

14.Records, monitoring and continual improvement

Projects & Compliance will maintain a complaint register recording the complaint reference, customer/site, product or service, category, severity, owner, provider referral where applicable, dates, evidence, findings, outcome, remedy, appeal, root cause, corrective/preventive action and closure evidence.

Management will review complaint volumes, causes, overdue cases, provider hand-offs, repeat issues, vulnerable-customer concerns and corrective actions. Material issues affecting VBR EPOS, cloud reporting, loyalty, online ordering or merchant-services integrations will be escalated to the relevant director, product, technical, security or partner owner.

15.Roles and responsibilities

16.Review and publication

This policy will be reviewed at least annually and after a serious complaint, material control failure, provider or regulatory change, or significant change to VBR products and services. Current contact and referral details will be controlled internally. Public copies will remain provider-neutral so the policy can apply consistently across VBR’s approved merchant-services relationships.