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The Company Complaints Resolution Procedure
Please email info@montblanctrips.com if your are dissatisfied about anything to discuss further, or to enter into a Complaint Resolution Procedure (steps 1 to 5) to resolve amicably and avoid incurring any legal fees.
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The procedure for complaints involves 5 steps. In between each step is an acceptable cooling off period of upto1 month before the next step is carried out to allow a client or someone to reflect and change their mind, be that the Company or the Client. Thereafter, if no solution is found legal mediation and the Courts of Law are an option, if the Client wishes as per French Law.
A Client can agree to close a Complaint at any stage within steps 1 to 5 without fear of retribution or retaliation. A client can seek independent legal advise if they wish.
The Complaints Resolution Procedure is treated as Confidential by the Company.
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The 5 steps of the Company Complaints Resolution Procedure
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1. Complaints can be directed to info@montblanctrips.com to outline an annoyance or expression of dissatisfaction.
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2. Complaints are reviewed, analysed and given consideration by the Company before a personal call, meeting or virtual meeting is arranged with a Client, to discuss their perspective and understand their dissatisfaction, to say sorry and compensate accordingly or not as the case might be. There is a period of reflection of up to 1 month for the Company to consider the client perspective and decide what to do, or propose to do with their expression of dissatisfaction.
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3. The Company then responds via email to the Client. The Company sets out their understanding of the Client complaint and their response to it with the hope the Client finds it satisfactory.
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4. The Client can then accept this response, and close the complaint "as resolved" via email. Or the Client and the Company can discuss further to fully reconsider any differences in perspectives, share frustrations, discuss and argue as required without fear of retribution or retaliation from either side, aiming to understand what happened or what didn't happen to cause the frustration, dissatisfaction and complaint. Both parties discuss the disagreements again with the aim of seeing not only their perspective.
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Part of this process includes identifying the areas where there appear to be unreconcilable differences, the Company and the Client must focus on each un reconcilable difference to be able to successfully move forward to a mutually agreed satisfactory target points, and reach a position of understanding.
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A minimum of 3 phone calls for 60 minutes each are required at stage 4 to fully consider another perspective. A minimum of 180 minutes is involved by both sides to aim to reach a satisfactory conclusion for both the Company and the Client to part happily and go on their merry way.
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At stage 4, both parties commit to deploying their effort to progress to a resolution and move the issue(s) forward toward to an agreeable solution for both parties.
5. The Complaint is resolved or closed as completed as and when a Client decides, when both parties understand a Complaint is to be closed, they both confirm via email outlining their satisfactory conclusion of the Complaints Resolution Procedure.
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The Client Mediation Option as per French Law:
6. Failing that, legal mediation may be required to handle a dispute. Enter into Mediation. The mediation incurs a cost to both a Client and the Company. Mediation is a legal process in France, as per French law, before proceeding to legal action and going to court which is lengthy and drawn out. If a client really wishes to enter in to mediation, they are entitled to and can seek independent legal advice at any time of course, but according to the Terms & Conditions of the Company any Client failing to participate first in steps 1 to 5 will result in the Client being liable for the costs of the Company at both mediation, and in Court, as they have not sufficiently participated in the Complaints Procedure to inform the Company and to resolve any differences, or failed to even consider a different perspective, and subsequently have wasted every ones time.
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Going to Court
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7. Go to court. If a client really wishes to go to court, they are entitled to but failing to participate first in steps 1 to 5 will result in the Client being liable for all the costs of the Company as the Company always wishes to close out Complaints prior to using any costly legal services, or informing the insurers of potential legal threats or legal action.
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Minimum Requirement:
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The minimum requirement for all complaints is an email discussion, a personal call or meeting (virtual if required), 3 calls involving a minimum of 180 minutes, to reconsider events and different perspectives prior to entering into any legal mediation as per French law a legal mediation is obligatory in the French system before being allowed to enter into a Court of Law as it may be possible to resolve a situation amicably.
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Aims:
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The aims are:
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to avoid giving money to people working in the legal profession unnecessarily
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to reach an amicable compromise with a Client where differences do arise with the hope of an effective resolution and loyal customers / repeat business
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to protect the Company from unnecessary legal costs
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to protect the Client from unnecessary legal costs
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to inform each other (the Client, the Company) and work together to resolve
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to stop wasting lawyers time and having to go to French mediation or a Court of Law
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to avoid using the courts unnecessarily when they are perhaps in need for higher priority cases, that may have already been through a complaint review procedure, legal mediation
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to amicably resolve expressions of Client dissatisfaction before having to inform an insurer or underwriter, accountant, auditor of a material complaint, especially if a threat of legal action is possible or exists that may need accounting for.
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Costs:
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The Complaints Resolution involves no legal costs because it is just a two way conversation to communicate personal differences, communicate misunderstandings, clarify breakdowns in communication, state what was not good for a client, state what was not satisfactory, state what would make a customer happy, state what must change or be done differently, and discuss the options.
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The Company believes that all Clients can reach a conclusion without the help of a lawyer, as they are expensive and not worth the money if you can resolve a dispute yourself, one simply needs to apply ones' own brain to reach a desired outcome or as near to it as is possible, communicate sufficiently to reach a mutually agreeable conclusion having discussed all the options together, and avoid going to legal mediation which is costly for the Company and the Client.
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The Client accepts that the Company will not pay someone else to do what the Company and you, the Client, can do yourselves, as everyone is capable of expressing themselves, sharing their perspective and thinking about another persons perspective without paying someone to tell you to do that for you, hence why the Company has a Complaints Resolution Procedure and there is no need to spend money on legal fees when an open discussion and complaint resolution is possible.
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It is unfair of the Client to force the Company into legal mediation without first having tried to reconcile differences with the Company via the Complaints Resolution Procedure, if they do this puts the liability on the Client to pick up all legal mediation costs for the Company too, the reason for this is that the Company is always willing to consider other perspectives and reconcile differences that may arise without a Client incurring legal costs, and it encourages Clients to resolve disputes amicably, instead of proceeding into mediation, arbitration or adjudication which benefits the lawyers financially and their bank accounts.
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The Complaints Resolution Procedure is without interference of a legal person insisting it is their place to be involved and forcing their costs on to the Client and the Company. Mediation is required by French law prior to going to court to avoid clogging up French courts unnecessarily and to help a plaintive (the Client or the Company) and whilst there is sense in using mediation services the cost does not justify the time if a complaint can be resolved between a Company and a Client via the Complaints Review Procedure. It is possible to solve problems yourself.
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Timescales and Cooling Off Periods:
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Ordinarily, the Client and the Company agree to try to resolved disputes and complaints amicably within 6 months, wherever possible, and then otherwise enter into legal mediation as is required under French law before going to Court, although if it is June, July or August then the period is extended to 9 months due to the need to earn a living during the peak summer season.
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In between each step is a cooling off period of 1 month before the next step is carried out, unless it is June, July or August in which case the cooling off period is 2 months.
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Please email info@montblanctrips.com if your are dissatisfied about anything to discuss further or to enter into a Complaint Resolution Procedure to resolve amicably.
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