The mechanisms of filing complaints begins with the consumer, said Mohamed Nour, head of vehicles committee at the Consumer Protection Agency (CPA) at the Egypt Automotive Conference Sunday. The agency seeks to check the validity and the documents of the complaints and to initiate dialogue between the company and the complaining consumer, Nour said. Around 80% of disputes are solved through such negotiations. If this step fails then a technical committee looks into the complaints, after which the committee reaches a decision after several technical inspections and verifications. Nour further discussed the new consumer protection law, noting that the law is open to suggestions from all manufacturers, producers and consumers. Alaa El-Saba, Chairman of Saba Automotive, stated that in some cases, they find that consumers are unaware of the terms of the guarantee and what rights this "contract" provides them with. Tarek Abdel Latif, Director of Operations at Abdel Latef Gameel, stated that vehicles are a different commodity than others and should be treated as such. He noted that it is still necessary to organise the complaint process. Khaled Saad, General Manager of Brilliance Bavarian Auto, gave some suggestions to the CPA in order to improve the relationship between the consumer, the automotive manufacturer and the government agency. Saad suggested the establishment of a committee of experts in the automotive industry, to be objective and act as a problem solver prior to filing the complaint. He added that this committee would be qualified to understand the consumer's problem before he/she files the complaint. Saad added that the standards for the acceptance of complaints should be disclosed by car manufacturing companies.
