Complaints handling procedure

Naomi
Naomi
  • Updated

At Bark, we want you to have the best possible experience, whether as a customer finding a service or as a professional providing one. While we strive to give you the best possible service, we acknowledge that things can go wrong from time to time, and we want to give you a clear process to follow if you have had a bad experience and wish to submit a complaint about it.

Types of complaints

This procedure is primarily aimed at complaints about the the following types of issues:

– Suspensions / terminations of accounts;
– Removal of, or restrictions placed on, your content from the website;
– Content you believe to be illegal appearing on the website;
– For professionals, other measures taken by Bark that affect your ability to serve your customers;
– Escalated complaints relating to services supplied by Professionals.

Where your complaint relates to services between a customer and a Professional, you should submit that complaint directly to the party in question. If you have tried to resolve the issue with that party directly, but have not reached a satisfactory resolution within 14 days of first telling them about your complaint, you may submit a complaint through this process.

Making a complaint

To make a complaint, you should send it by email to team@bark.com providing the following information:

(a) The nature of the complaint;
(b) The parties involved (if any);
(c) The profile / content involved (if any);
(d) A timeline of events, including your attempts to resolve the issue.

We will endeavour to review all complaints within 7 days of submission.

How we assess complaints

Once you have submitted your complaint, we will review your submission and any supporting information that you provide. We may reach out to relevant parties to corroborate the complaint, and will use all information available to us to determine the outcome.

When we have made a decision, we will give you a written response setting out whether we agree with the complaint and what action, if any, we will take to address the issue. The actions we might take will vary depending on the nature of the complaint but this can include:

– Removing or suspending accounts;
– Reinstating accounts;
– Removing / restricting content on our website;
– Written warnings.

We aim to issue a response promptly, but the specific timing will vary depending on the complexity of the complaint. We will keep you updated with progress as we go through the assessment process.

Appeals

If you are not satisfied with the outcome of a complaint, you may submit an appeal by sending a written request to the postal address below. This must be sent within 30 days of the decision and set out the reasons why you believe the decision was wrongly made and should be overturned, along with any supporting evidence.

Address: FAO Escalations Team, 85 Great Portland Street, London W1W 7LT

Depending on the nature of the complaint, and if you are located in the UK or the EU, you may also refer the matter to the Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution (“CEDR”) for mediation. This option is available for the following types of complaints:

– Suspensions or terminations of a Professional’s account;
– Removal or restriction of a user’s content on the website.

To initiate the mediation a party must give notice in writing to the other party to the dispute, referring the dispute to mediation. A copy of the referral should be sent to CEDR.

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