Consumer rights advisor

Consumer rights advisors aid consumers with complaints and provide advice and information on rights as a consumer after purchasing products or services. They monitor organisations to ensure compliance with consumer rights standards and aid consumers in handling disputes.

Consumer rights advisors typically do the following:

• visit trading premises, e.g., pubs, petrol stations, shops, factories, and markets, to carry out routine checks or to respond to a complaint
• carry out checks on things such as weighing machines and food labels in shops, beer and spirit measures in pubs and transport of livestock to market
• deal with traders selling faulty goods
• identify potential hazards, such as unsafe electrical goods or unroadworthy vehicles
• check that advertisements and labels accurately describe the properties of the products
• take samples for laboratory analysis
• offer business advice to help traders comply with legislation
• investigate suspected offences, sometimes undercover and with the police or other agencies
• present evidence at court in criminal proceedings
• give legal advice to members of the public about their consumer rights
• keep up to date with new legislation, new cases, and guidance procedures
• educate consumers and businesses, which may involve giving talks to schools, businesses, and various consumer and vulnerable adult groups
• write reports, statements, letters, articles, and consultation documents and keep accurate records.

The following job titles also refer to consumer rights advisor:

consumer rights legal advisor
consumer rights legal adviser
legal services advisor
food hygiene inspector
consumer rights adviser
legal services adviser
trading standards officer

A bachelor’s degree in communications, public relations, marketing, or business provides a wide range of skills needed to be successful as a consumer rights advisor. These programs cover topics such as interpersonal communication skills, public speaking, leadership, sales and sales management, ethics, management, buyer behavior, and operations management. Additionally, companies provide extensive training on their company’s products and services. This training prepares consumer rights advisors with knowledge of potential problems that could arise.

ISCO skill level is defined as a function of the complexity and range of tasks and duties to be performed in an occupation. It is measured on a scale from 1 to 4, with 1 the lowest level and 4 the highest, by considering:

• the nature of the work performed in an occupation in relation to the characteristic tasks and duties
• the level of formal education required for competent performance of the tasks and duties involved and
• the amount of informal on-the-job training and/or previous experience in a related occupation required for competent performance of these tasks and duties.

Consumer rights advisor is a Skill level 3 occupation.

These occupations, although different, require a lot of knowledge and skills similar to consumer rights advisor.

social security officer
immigration adviser
court enforcement officer
health and safety inspector
passport officer

These occupations require some skills and knowledge of consumer rights advisor. They also require other skills and knowledge, but at a higher ISCO skill level, meaning these occupations are accessible from a position of consumer rights advisor with a significant experience and/or extensive training.

legal consultant
labour relations officer
court jury coordinator
competition policy officer
mediator

This knowledge should be acquired through learning to fulfill the role of consumer rights advisor.

• Customer service: Processes and principles related to the customer, client, service user and to personal services; these may include procedures to evaluate customer’s or service user’s satisfaction.
• Consumer protection: The current legislation applicable in relation to the rights of consumers in the marketplace.
• Consumer law: The area of law that regulates the relationship between consumers and businesses providing goods or services, including consumer protection and regulations on irregular business practices.

These skills are necessary for the role of consumer rights advisor.

• Advise on consumer rights: Advise consumers as well as retailers and service providers on the legislation concerning consumer rights, what actions consumers may undertake in order to ensure their rights are adhered to, how businesses may improve compliance to consumer rights legislation, and the correct manner to handle disputes.
• Communicate with customers: Respond to and communicate with customers in the most efficient and appropriate manner to enable them to access the desired products or services, or any other help they may require.
• Apply conflict management: Take ownership of the handling of all complaints and disputes showing empathy and understanding to achieve resolution. To be fully aware of all Social Responsibility protocols and procedures, and to be able to deal with a problem gambling situation in a professional manner with maturity and empathy.
• Protect client interests: Protect the interests and needs of a client by taking necessary actions, and researching all possibilities, to ensure that the client obtains their favoured outcome.
• Inspect government policy compliance: Inspect public and private organisations to ensure proper implementation and compliance with government policies which apply to the organisation.
• Respond to enquiries: Respond to enquiries and requests for information from other organisations and members of the public.
• Keep records of customer interaction: Recording details of inquiries, comments and complaints received from customers, as well as actions to be taken.
• Investigate complaints related to consumer protection: Investigate accidents, incidents and complaints; determine if health, safety and consumer protection procedures have been followed.
• Handle conflicts: Mediate in conflicts and tense situations by acting between parties, such as service users, important others like families, and institutions, striving to effect an agreement, reconcile, and resolve problems.
• Apply technical communication skills: Explain technical details to non-technical customers, stakeholders, or any other interested parties in a clear and concise manner.

This knowledge is sometimes, but not always, required for the role of consumer rights advisor. However, mastering this knowledge allows you to have more opportunities for career development.

• Fraud detection: The techniques used to identify fraudulent activities.
• Legal research: The methods and procedures of research in legal matters, such as the regulations, and different approaches to analyses and source gathering, and the knowledge on how to adapt the research methodology to a specific case to obtain the required information.
• Corporate law: The legal rules that govern how corporate stakeholders (such as shareholders, employees, directors, consumers, etc) interact with one another, and the responsibilities corporations have to their stakeholders.

These skills and competences are sometimes, but not always, required for the role of consumer rights advisor. However, mastering these skills and competences allows you to have more opportunities for career development.

• Prevent fraudulent activities: Identify and prevent suspicious merchant activity or fraudulent behaviour.
• Maintain relations with local representatives: Maintain good relations with representatives of the local scientific, economic and civil society.
• Compile legal documents: Compile and collect legal documents from a specific case in order to aid an investigation or for a court hearing, in a manner compliant with legal regulations and ensuring records are properly maintained.
• Liaise with local authorities: Maintain the liaison and exchange of information with regional or local authorities.
• Use different communication channels: Make use of various types of communication channels such as verbal, handwritten, digital and telephonic communication with the purpose of constructing and sharing ideas or information.
• Keep task records: Organise and classify records of prepared reports and correspondence related to the performed work and progress records of tasks.
• Report test findings: Report test results with a focus on findings and recommendations, differentiating results by levels of severity. Include relevant information from the test plan and outline the test methodologies, using metrics, tables, and visual methods to clarify where needed.
• Assess quality of services: Test and compare various goods and services in order to assess their quality and to give detailed information to consumers.
• Advise on government policy compliance: Advise organisations on how they may improve their compliance to the applicable government policies they are required to adhere to, and the necessary steps which need to be taken in order to ensure complete compliance.
• Promote responsible consumer behaviour: Promote policies, actions and education programmes that encourage healthy lifestyles and proactive participation in sustainable consumption, and that lead to changes in consumers’ attitudes, shopping habits and expectations.
• Provide legal advice: Provide advice to clients in order to ensure that their actions are compliant with the law, as well as most beneficial for their situation and specific case, such as providing information, documentation, or advice on the course of action for a client should they want to take legal action or legal action is taken against them.
• Ensure law application: Ensure the laws are followed, and where they are broken, that the correct measures are taken to ensure compliance to the law and law enforcement.

3359 – Regulatory government associate professionals not elsewhere classified

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References

1. Consumer rights advisor – ESCO
2. Trading standards officer job profile | Prospects.ac.uk
3. The Job Description for a Customer Affairs Representative – Chron
4. Featured image: Photo by Headway on Unsplash