The Deputy of the Center for the Development of E-commerce believes that three factors have contributed to the reduction in the number of complaints against online businesses.
According to IDEA, the e-commerce report for the year 1401(2022) indicated a 68% reduction in complaints received from online businesses. At first glance, this reduction can be attributed to the effectiveness of trust-building and increased user satisfaction. However, it appears that changes in the complaint process since the past year and its complexity have had a significant impact on reducing complaints. The complaint process for a website now requires information that is not easily accessible to users, leading many users to abandon their complaints.
While e-commerce in Iran currently holds a 4% share of the total retail sales, the popularity of online shopping is increasing day by day. The entry of Generation Z into the job market and taking on the responsibility of household purchases also contribute to the growth of online shopping.
However, online shopping comes with its challenges, including trust in the seller, receiving products as ordered, product quality, and more. ‘Enamad,’ or electronic trust symbol, is a tool created to support consumer rights. When users see this symbol on a store’s page, it provides them with both increased confidence in making purchases and the ability to file an official complaint if they encounter any issues.
The Electronic Commerce Development Center, by awarding the Enamad (electronic trust) symbol, verifies the identity and location of online businesses and monitors the complaint resolution process. In the recent report on e-commerce in the year 1401, a nearly 70% reduction in complaints against online businesses has been mentioned. At first glance, it may seem that these improvements and enhanced customer service have contributed to this reduction. However, if you delve into the complaint registration process, you may have a different perspective.
Changes in the complaint registration process for online stores
By visiting the business profile page on the Electronic Commerce Trust Symbol website, you can register your complaint.
The online complaint system for Internet businesses has been redesigned, and registering a new complaint is only possible using payment transaction information.
Prior to the year 1401, individuals could register their complaints by using the invoice number or the tracking code of the online store, along with brief descriptions and required images. However, with the launch of the new system, certain payment information is required that we may not pay attention to during online purchases.
Alongside information such as the ‘domain name of the website’ and the ‘payment amount,’ entering the ‘reference number’ and ‘terminal number’ in accordance with the payment transaction information is mandatory; otherwise, the user’s complaint will not be registered. You should keep this information when making online payments or using a POS terminal. In other words, if you haven’t taken a screenshot of the payment page or have discarded the card reader receipt, registering your complaint will be challenging.
It seems that fewer people pay attention to this information during online payments, and the difficulties in accessing it again have led to a reduction in complaints against online businesses.
The lack of an electronic invoice, challenges in the banking network, and other factors have created conditions favorable for misuse by consumers. Given the mechanism of the country’s banking system, which has faced numerous criticisms, users have no choice but to be more careful when making online purchases and entering all payment information to assert their rights. This has caused many users to be unaware of how to file complaints in the virtual space and what the process of filing a complaint entails.
The information now requested from the complainant (the buyer in an online transaction) is information that a business should ideally collect, not an ordinary user. However, if someone wants to file a complaint against a physical store, they must, of course, have the receipt provided by the store’s POS terminal to submit their complaint. On the other hand, it should not be forgotten that in an online purchase, the process of an online transaction is supposed to be simpler, and the complaint process should also be more straightforward. However, the Center for the Development of Electronic Commerce has a different opinion.
Registering transaction information for complaints benefits both consumers and businesses
“Mohammad Javad Hadi,” Deputy for Business Facilitation at the Center for the Development of Electronic Commerce, believes that the new complaint system and the necessity of registering transaction information are beneficial to both consumers and businesses, he said:
“One of the problems with complaints was dealing with fake, duplicate, or mistaken complaints. Some people, assuming that their complaint would be processed faster, would register it multiple times. On the other hand, some people, due to purchasing from different stores, would mistakenly register their complaints, and some would file fake complaints for competitive reasons to damage their rivals. Due to businesses’ obligation to respond to complaints, these issues were causing dissatisfaction among businesses.”
According to him, on the other hand, there was no credible document available to legally pursue the protection of consumer rights: “When a complaint was registered, it meant that the customer and the business could not resolve their problem. With the old system, there was no document to prove anything, and businesses denied any purchase. No one could assert this. Electronic invoices are not issued in the country, and everyone generates their own serial number and does not provide their data. So the only thing you can rely on is the payment receipt.”
He claims that despite all the complexities of payment transactions, they have simplified this matter through initiatives they have employed. After launching the new system, they have repeatedly taken steps to inform people about this issue through television programs and text messages from the ‘Prevention’ headquarters. However, it does not seem that state broadcasting, whose most popular program engages at best 22 percent of the population, provides an adequate platform for informing people about this issue.
With the new laws that have been enacted, people must save the payment receipt data when making online purchases. If they have paid with a card reader, they must take a picture of the receipt and keep it themselves. They can also receive the transaction receipt by including their email in the payment gateway.
But if someone did not save this information, should they give up on filing a complaint? The answer is no; because individuals can request this information from their internet bank or visit the bank in person, although this matter has its own complexities. It should also be noted that the lack of competition among government banks has led some of them to not properly handle the issue of payments and not retain this information, a matter that, according to Hadi, is a banking system problem and requires more opinions.
According to the Center for the Development of Electronic Commerce, after launching the new complaint system, a specialized unit for handling complaints of the Online Support and Arbitration Organization was also established. “New complaints are resolved in less than three weeks by the necessary arbitration, which can be enforced like a bounced check. This payment confirmation has greatly increased the enforcement guarantee of our system.
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