Search Mediators Near You:

Online Dispute Resolution for Consumers

This chapter is from “Online Dispute Resolution
Theory and Practice,” Mohamed Abdel Wahab, Ethan Katsh & Daniel Rainey ( Eds.), published, sold and distributed by Eleven International Publishing.
The Hague, Netherlands at: www.elevenpub.com
.

ODR in the consumer context refers to the use of ICT tools and methods (usually alternative to the court system) employed by businesses and consumers (B2C) to settle conflicts that arise out of economic transactions between the parties, particularly in e-commerce.

It is often distinguished from other fields where ODR is used, such as in the commercial field (B2B), in the public sphere to resolve government and citizen (G2C) disputes, and in the resolution of disputes related to intellectual property.

A consumer transaction (B2C), akin to a consumer dispute, will be one where an individual, acting on a personal capacity, buys goods or services for his or her personal use. Conversely, a business is an individual or an entity that acts on a professional capacity selling goods or services as part of their profession.

In a B2C dispute, the aggrieved party is frequently the consumer as they normally pay in advance for their purchased goods and services. Consequently, the consumer is the weaker party in a dispute where the business has the payment and the experience of dealing with similar disputes. Consumers will often get more involved in the dispute, taking it more personal, and thus requiring a more transformative solution, while the business is mostly interested in resolving the dispute as fast and inexpensively as possible.

In certain cases, businesses will be keen in resolving the dispute in order to maintain
their reputation. This is relevant when, as it happens in eBay, the buyer leaves feedback
after a transaction. When ODR is effectively used in this way, it has an added value for the
parties; it increases the consumers’ trust in those online sellers that provide ODR services.
Greater trust means that reliable sellers would boost their trade and consumers will be
protected from the potential abuse by the dominant party in the transaction. ODR services may be employed to ensure that consumers’ rights are respected by the online vendor,
hence enhancing consumers’ confidence in the online transaction. As a result,ODR would ultimately enhance the business’s ability to sell while at the same time protecting the consumer’s ability to participate safely in e-commerce.

Attachments to this Article

                        author

Pablo Cortés

Pablo Cortés (Licenciado, LL.M, Ph.D.) is a lecturer in law at University of Leicester, UK, and a qualified attorney (non-practising) in Spain. His research interests lie in the intersection of ADR, ODR, consumer protection, and civil procedure. He has recently published a monograph entitled Online Dispute Resolution for Consumers in… MORE >

Featured Mediators

ad
View all

Read these next

Category

Financial Consumers Can Only Avoid Arbitration By Using A Credit Union

Disputing Blog by Karl Bayer, Victoria VanBuren, and Holly HayesDisputing would like to invite you to check out Liz Kramer’s recent blog post entitled CFPB’s Preliminary Report: Financial Consumers Can...

By Beth Graham
Category

What Happens If You are Getting a Military Divorce?

Most of those in the know agree that military marriages are burdened by stresses and strains beyond those of an ordinary marriage. It is understandable, then, that military divorces present...

By Mitch Cohen
Category

Keystone Conference: Megatrends for Mediators in Media

Related Video There are three media trends affecting conflict resolution—the bad, the good, and those that we do not know if they are bad or good yet. Bad. The notions...

By Richard C. Reuben

Find a Mediator