Complaints

01The principle

We would rather hear it from you than not hear it at all. A complaint is not an inconvenience and it will not affect how you are treated afterwards — not the houses you are shown, not the attention you receive, not the fee you pay.

Most complaints turn out to be misunderstandings and most are settled the same day by a telephone call. The procedure below exists for the ones that are not.

02How to complain

Any route reaches us. Use whichever is easiest — you are not required to use a form, quote a reference, or put it in any particular language.

What helps us fix it faster

None of this is required, and a complaint will never be refused for want of it:

• what happened, and roughly when;
• who you dealt with, if you remember;
• the property or reference number, where there is one;
• what you would like us to do about it.

03What happens next

1. We acknowledge it. In writing, within five working days, naming the person who will handle it.
2. Someone independent looks at it. A complaint is never investigated by the person it concerns. Where it concerns a concierge, it goes to the Keeper of the Register.
3. We gather the file. Correspondence, notes, itineraries, and — where relevant — what was said and by whom. We will come back to you if we need your account of it.
4. We answer in writing. What we found, whether we accept it, what we are doing about it, and what we are offering if we got it wrong.
5. We tell you where to go next if our answer does not satisfy you. We will not leave you to discover your options unaided.

04The timescales

If we miss one of these, that is itself worth complaining about, and the escalation routes below are open to you without waiting further.

05Possible outcomes

We will tell you plainly which of these applies, and why:

• We were wrong. We say so, apologise without qualification, put it right, and tell you what we have changed so it does not recur.
• We were partly wrong. We separate what we accept from what we do not, and explain both.
• We do not accept it. We set out our reasons and the evidence, and point you to the escalation routes below. A refusal is not the end of the matter unless you decide it is.

Where a fee was charged for work that fell short, a refund or reduction is on the table. We will raise it ourselves rather than wait to be asked.

06If we do not satisfy you

These routes are yours by right. You do not need our permission, our agreement, or our involvement to use any of them, and you may go to them instead of us rather than after us.

Conduct of the agency

Estate agents, property brokers and property consultants in Malta are licensed and supervised under the Real Estate Agents, Property Brokers and Property Consultants Act (Chapter 615 of the Laws of Malta). Complaints about the conduct of a licensed agent may be taken to the Licensing Authority established under that Act, which may investigate and impose sanctions.

Personal data

Information and Data Protection Commissioner
Floor 2, Airways House, High Street, Sliema SLM 1549, Malta
idpc.org.mt · idpc.info@idpc.org.mt

If you live elsewhere in the EEA you may complain to your own national data protection authority instead.

Consumer rights

Consumers may approach the Office for Consumer Affairs at the Malta Competition and Consumer Affairs Authority, and — where the criteria are met — the Consumer Claims Tribunal, which is designed to be used without a lawyer.

The courts

Nothing in this procedure, and nothing in our Terms, prevents you from going to court. Using this procedure does not waive any right and does not extend or shorten any limitation period.

07Complaints about a concierge

Say so directly. One concierge stays with you from first letter to handover precisely so that nobody can hide behind a rota — which also means that when the relationship is not working, it matters.

You may ask for a different concierge and we will not ask you to justify it. This is the one exception to the house rule against transfers, and it exists for you rather than for us.

08What we record

Every complaint is logged with its date, its substance, who handled it, what was decided and what changed as a result. We review the log so that a pattern is caught as a pattern rather than dismissed as a run of unrelated misfortunes.

The log contains personal data and is treated accordingly — see the Privacy Notice. You may ask for a copy of your own complaint file at any time.