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Our Departments

Welcome to CGSO South Africa

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CONSUMER GOODS AND SERVICES OMBUD

Resolving Consumer Goods Disputes Effectively And Independently.

The Office of the Consumer Goods and Services Ombud (CGSO) is the consumer goods and services industry’s compulsory Ombud scheme, set up in line with the Consumer Protection Act.

The CGSO enforces the Consumer Goods and Services Industry Code of Conduct by receiving and dealing with consumer goods complaints by a consumer free of charge.

Consumers

If you have lodged a complaint with a supplier and the complaint has not been resolved to your satisfaction, you can escalate your complaint to the CGSO.

Participants

It is mandatory for all participants (retailers, suppliers, importers, distributions, etc.) to comply fully with the provisions of the Code and to register their participation with CGSO and contribute towards the funding of the CGSO.

Our Mission

The Mission of the CGSO is to maintain Fair Play in the Consumer Goods and Services Industry by:

Raising the standards of good conduct and increasing the level of certainty for all participants;
Offering guidance to participants in the Industry as to the implementation of and the compliance with the Consumer Protection Act (CPA) and what constitutes fair business practices to be followed when operating within the Industry;
Educating consumers as to their rights and redress available to them should a participant breach the CPA or the Code; and
Providing for a scheme of alternative dispute resolution as described in section 82 (6) of the CPA.

Our Vision

To be the trusted champion for resolving Consumer Complaints to promote fair trade.

Our Values

Respect and Empathy: We treat our customers (both consumers and service providers) with respect and understanding.
Fairness and Impartiality: We deal with complaints referred to us fairly and impartially and we treat both the participants and complainant with fairness throughout the complaint’s resolution process. We also make impartial and fair commendations based on relevant evidence and the law.
Integrity and Honesty: We conduct ourselves with integrity and honesty.
Accessible and Responsive: We are accessible to complainants, participants and stakeholders through quality and timely responses.
Universality: We are ready to deal appropriately (resolve/refer) with every complaint regardless of whether it is within our jurisdiction or not.

How we can help you with a complaint

We are mandated to mediate disputes and ensure that industry players abide by the Consumer Goods and Services Industry Code of Conduct. If you have lodged a complaint with a supplier and the complaint has not been resolved to your satisfaction, you can escalate your complaint to the CGSO. We give the supplier the opportunity to resolve the complaint, failing which we help the parties to reach an agreed settlement.

0860 000 272

The CGSO is obligated to enforce the Consumer Goods and Services Industry Code of Conduct by:

Receiving and dealing with complaints and disputes by a consumer relating to its Code of conduct or the Consumer Protection Act free of charge
Attempting to facilitate a settlement between the parties.
Addressing each complaint in an unbiased manner.
Making recommendations as to how the dispute should be settled.

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Registered Participants

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Complaints Received

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Complaints Resolved

Latest News & Notices

January 18, 2023 February 22, 2021 February 19, 2021

Have Question ? Get in touch!

If you have any question about our services. Feel free to call us. Our agents will gladly help you.

CGSO Privacy Statement

Our commitment to you is that we respect the privacy of our clients and every visitor to our Website and Consumer Goods and Services Ombud (“CGSO”) Platforms.

Your Personal Information is protected by the Protection of Personal Information Act, 2013 (Act No. 4 of 2013 “POPIA Act”); to know more about your right to privacy of your personal information, please contact the office of the Information Regulator.

We would like you to understand our approach towards the use of your Personal Information as well as to inform you regarding the manner in which we would use this data; consequently, we request that you read our Privacy Statement.

The Privacy Statement forms part of our Privacy Policy and shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the Republic of South Africa. By sharing your Personal Information with us through our Website and/or CGSO Platforms, email and/or telephonically, you are deemed to have given us consent and permission where necessary and appropriate for the purposes set out in the Privacy Statement; that we may collect, use, and transfer your Personal Information for the purposes set out therein.

If you do not agree with these terms, please do not provide any Personal Information through our Website, CGSO Platforms, email and/or telephonically however, on the understanding that we will not be able to interact with you as you have not provided the necessary consent to lawfully process your Personal Information.