Appeals & Complaints

Authentic Rating Solutions has a documented process for receiving, evaluating, making decisions, and record-keeping of appeals and complaints. A description of the process will be made available to a client on a specific written request by the client. The process shall be subject to the requirements for confidentiality. Authentic Rating Solutions are responsible for all decisions on all levels of the appeals-/complaints-handling process. Investigation of and decisions on appeals shall not result in any discriminatory actions against the appellant. The decisions of the Appeals & Complaints Committee as well as any remedial action/s will be communicated to the appellant/complainant. The decisions of the appeals/complaints committee shall be final and binding and no further correspondence related to such findings which is likely to give the impression that the process is still incomplete or open to further review, should be entered into. Such processes will further enhance the values of Authentic Rating Solutions and give confidence to our stakeholders and the public at large in their dealings with Authentic Rating Solutions.

The appeals and complaints forms are available for download below:

Appeals & Complaints Lodgement Form

If a client wants to lodge a complaint or appeal, please download, complete the form, and e-mail it to mariska@atrs.co.za.

  1. Complete the Appeals and Complaints Lodgement Form and email it to the General Manager at mariska@atrs.co.za
  2. AUTHENTIC commits to resolve any appeal within a maximum period of 30 days from the initial lodgment of the appeal.
  3. When an appeal is received, the General Manager and an independent member of the EXCO Management team will meet to review the appeal.
  4. The General Manager will be a permanent appointed member of the Appeals & Complaints Committee. The General Manager assess and ensure that all members of the Appeals & Complaints Committee are impartial to the specific appeal. If any member does prove to be partial in the appeal the General Manager will request for these members to be temporarily removed or replaced in the committee during the process of evaluation.
  5. The Appeals & Complaints Committee will assess whether the appeal refers to B-BBEE verification activities, for which AUTHENTIC is responsible, and the further process of handling and/or investigation of it. The Appeals & Complaints Committee will appoint an independent Verification Manager to investigate the appeal and will provide him/her with a time frame in which he/she must give feedback of the investigation to the Appeals & Complaints Committee.
  6. At this stage of the procedure the General Manager will communicate the status of the appeal process to the appellant.
  7. The Appeals & Complaints Committee and appointed independent Verification Manager will review the appeal to establish the reason for the appeal.
  8. The independent Verification Manager will review the verification file relevant to the appeal. The evidence provided in the file will be re-verified and the score will be recalculated.
  9. The Appeals & Complaints Committee will write a report on the investigation conducted and the plan that will be followed in resolving the appeal.
  10. The Appeals & Complaints Committee will inform the appellant in writing of the outcome of their investigation into the appeal and will communicate the plan that has been implemented for resolving the appeal.
  11. If there were any errors, the Appeals & Complaints Committee will appoint a verification analyst / verification manager / verification team, who will follow the special evaluations procedure to issue a new certificate if needed.
  12. At all stages of the evaluation and investigation of an appeal, written records must be kept that will be saved and stored in the verification file of the measured entity and also in the Appeals and Complaints file.
  13. If corrective action needs to be undertaken, and / or disciplinary action needs to be taken against an employee of AUTHENTIC, the Appeals & Complaints Committee will immediately take the necessary steps to do so.
  14. Should the Appeals & Complaints Committee find that there is a training need for the verification analyst he will complete a training needs report and will hand it to the General Manager who will oversee the training process.
  1. Complete the Appeals and Complaints Lodgement Form and email it to the General Manager at mariska@atrs.co.za
  2. AUTHENTIC commits to resolve any complaint within a maximum period of 30 days from the initial lodgment of the complaint.
  3. When a complaint is received, the General Manager (Yolanda Du Plessis) and an independent member of the EXCO Management team will meet to review the complaint.
  4. If a complaint can be addressed and resolved by the General Manager, he will do so.
  5. If, in the General Manager’s opinion, the complaint requires to be investigated further and/or more information regarding the complaint is required, he will call a meeting with the Appeals & Complaints Committee.
  6. The General Manager will be a permanent appointed member of the Appeals & Complaints Committee. The General Manager assess and ensure that all members of the Appeals & Complaints Committee are impartial to the specific complaint. If any member does prove to be partial in the complaint the General Manager will request for these members to be temporarily removed or replaced in the committee during the process of evaluation.
  7. The Appeals & Complaints Committee will classify the complaint on whether it relates to a verification certificate, the verification team ‘personnel’ or any other service delivery matter.
  8. If the matter is a verification matter, the Appeals & Complaints Committee will, with assistance from an appointed independent Verification Manager review the file, to see if there is any merit to the complaint or if the matter arose out of a misunderstanding.
  9. If there is insufficient information to see whether the complaint has merit, the Appeals & Complaints Committee will contact the complainant to get a better understanding of the grounds of the complaint.
  10. If after the above procedures, the Appeals & Complaints Committee is unable to establish grounds of complaint that have merit, the Appeals & Complaints Committee will dismiss the case as a case without sufficient merit for investigation.
  11. The Appeals & Complaints Committee will write a report on the complaint and will update the appeals and complaints register.
  12. The Appeals & Complaints Committee will inform the complainant in writing of the outcome of the complaint.
  13. If the matter is a ‘personnel’ or related to a service delivery matter, the Appeals & Complaints Committee with the General Manager will interview individuals or teams involved, to investigate the cause of the complaint. The Appeals & Complaints Committee and General Manager will determine whether there is any merit for the complaint.
  14. The Appeals & Complaints Committee will write a report on the complaint, will update the appeals and complaints register and will inform the complainant in writing of the outcome of the complaint. The Appeals & Complaints Committee will also inform the individual named in the complaint of the outcome of the complaint. If the staff member was in the wrong, the Appeals & Complaints Committee will take the necessary steps to prevent the same from happening again.
  15. At all stages of the evaluation and investigation of an appeal, written records must be kept that will be saved and stored in the verification file of the measured entity and in the Appeals and Complaints file.
  16. If corrective action needs to be undertaken, and / or disciplinary action needs to be taken against an employee of AUTHENTIC, the Appeals & Complaints Committee will immediately take the necessary steps to do so.
  17. Should the Appeals & Complaints Committee find that there is a training need for the verification analyst he will complete a training needs report and will hand it to the General Manager who will oversee the training process.

The decisions reached on appeals and complaints, will be communicated in writing to the appellant / complainant as well as any other person or party deemed to have had an interest in the outcome of the investigation. The Brand Manager / Appeals & Complaints Committee will communicate updated information / progress of the process to the appellant / complainant at the following stages of the process:

  • Receipt: Upon receipt of the Complaint / Appeal the Brand Manager will confirm the receipt thereof via email & and will state the period in which the complaint or appeal will be resolved.
  • Review: Once the appeal / complaint have been reviewed by the The Appeals & Complaints Committee and independent Verification Analyst, the committee will compile a review report on the investigation conducted and the plan that will be followed in resolving the appeal and will communicate this to the appellant / complainant.
  • Supporting Information: If there is insufficient information to see whether the appeal or complaint has merit, the Appeals & Complaints Committee will contact the complainant to get a better understanding of the grounds of the appeal / complaint and will request necessary supporting evidence if required.
  • Outcome: Once The Appeals & Complaints Committee have concluded their investigation into the appeal / complaint they will write a report on the complaint and will inform the complainant in writing of the outcome of the investigation into the appeal / complaint.
  • Formal notice regarding the effectiveness of the decisions taken to resolve the matter of the end of the appeals or complaints evaluation and investigation procedure shall be given to the appellant or complainant.

All records to the appeals and complaints, including the corrective action taken records, will be kept in the Appeals or Complaints file and a copy in the verification file of the measure entity.

  • All complaints and appeals will be reviewed at the quarterly management review meeting. During this meeting the result will be discussed and effectiveness of the process will be reviewed.
  • If any additional steps should be added to the process, it will be recorded and implemented after the management review meeting.

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