RetailADR Reviews 

One star is generous. Retail ADR kept failing to keep me informed, including that the firm which had dragged my complaint over more than half a year, didn't bother to send a defence. Even worse, the firm didn't respond when the adjudicator gave them a second chance to present a defence. You'd think that would make our case succeed. No.
After all that, Retail ADR still found in their favour.

Retail ADR are not an ombudsman body and not interested in a solid customer case.

Don't bother with them. Go as far as you can to get a conclusion from the firm that's failed you, then head for CAB.

Corporate Shills. They act for retailers.

My adjudicator Molly showed clear bias for selfridges. I ran my query through 4 LLMs and all said they believed my case was stronger.

After Currys left me with an unsafe, uninstalled fridge freezer and repeatedly misled me about engineer visits that were never booked, I took my complaint to CDRL/RetailADR. I provided a detailed chronology, written correspondence and evidence showing:

I had paid for installation which was not carried out.

I was told on two separate days to stay at home for visits that literally did not exist in Currys’ system.

A Currys staff member falsely claimed their notes showed I had refused access and did not want anyone from Currys near my property – something Currys later admitted was not supported by their own records.

Despite this, CDRL concluded that Currys had done nothing wrong and that I effectively had no case. In other words, an ADR scheme that is supposed to provide independent redress looked at an unsafe non‑installation, two wasted days built on misinformation, and a false allegation recorded against me, and still found no meaningful fault on the retailer’s side.

The whole process felt one‑sided and opaque. I was required to submit detailed evidence and arguments, but the outcome read as if the bar for criticising the retailer had been set so high that almost nothing would ever qualify. It is very hard to see how an ordinary consumer could look at my case and feel that the decision was fair, balanced or proportionate.

CDRL markets itself as an independent body approved to help consumers resolve disputes with retailers. In my experience, it functioned more as another layer of defence for the retailer than as a genuine check on unfair treatment. If you are a consumer considering using this scheme, be aware that it may consume a lot of time and energy for very little prospect of meaningful redress, even in cases where the retailer has already admitted serious failings.

Claim with IKEA. Spent 8K. Rubbish customer service. ADR supposedly reviewed evidence??? I even demonstrated IKEA defrauding a completion certificate. Secured no more than good will. I didn’t respond within 7 days and they closed the case having had it for 4 months. Useless outfit. Not sure who is worse them or IKEA.

Omg how are they even allowed to think they help resolve issues when they don’t even fully look into the issue absolute useless and the fact they did not investigate my issue the event and what was involved is ridiculous - no wonder retailers direct u to them as they know u won’t ever win !!

I wish I had seen the other reviews before I opened my claim. As for so many others, RetailADR found in favour of the retailer despite the overwhelming evidence I provided, and they were almost passive aggressive in some parts of their determination letter. They should be shut down as there is no doubt in my mind that they are biased towards the retailers. Plus, their dashboard keeps showing an error message when I try to submit feedback about my experience! What an appalling service.

Appalling and shameful service from RetailADR. It was a complete waste of time. They sided with Aldi. If I had seen the "POLICY REPORT APRIL 2021: Are Alternative Dispute Resolution schemes working for consumers?" from WHICH?, I would not have wasted my time with the RetailADR. You will see in the WHICH? report that they have the highest percentage of cases refused out of all the ADR that disclosed this. In the report, you will see that of the 3005 cases submitted to the RetailADR, they refused 71% of them. Shocking! Compare this to another ADR organisation, 'OS: Communications', that refused only 2% of 45,078 cases that was submitted to them. The difference is clear. In the report, you will see their performance when it comes to "Transparency" and "Independence Measure" and they are not encouraging.

What a waste of time. ADR appear to be biased in favour of the retailer.
After developing a delamination issue with my kitchen from Ikea, with a 25yr guarantee, Ikea totally refused to send someone out to inspect.
Ikea initially determined, from photographs, that they were not covered under the guarantee as the issue was caused by either steam, condensation or the way I had cleaned the units.
After raising with ADR, Ikea said it wasn't condensation or steam, when it was pointed out it was all open plan and we have no issues as such.
They stated in their defense that the photos had been checked again with a kitchen fitter, who said it was down to cleaning. Ridiculous, as I clean all the kitchen the same way and there is only a few fronts affected. If you can't clean a kitchen, then it's not fit for purpose.
Ikea sent no evidence to show that they had anyone look at the photographs, ADR simply took their word.
Do not bother gathering evidence for your claim as it is pointless.
Also as another point, take Ikea's 25yr kitchen guarantee with a pinch of salt. Its not worth the paper it's written on.

Don't waste your time! I opened a claim against ASOS (not for any financial compensation) but due to the closure of my account without any grounds to actually close it. I asked for evidence, examples and clarification (after having been denied a formal complaints procedure from ASOS themselves). This company sided with the retailer despite them having provided absolutely nothing. Thankfully I wasn't really hoping for much back, it was more the principal for me, I will never shop with ASOS again anyway but if you do have a legitimate claim then I would absolutely not be using this company. Totally useless.

Unregulated, 100 % Biased towards the energy company. Do not waste your time because your complaint is designed to fail and never be upheld. They will never ever ever let you win. They just simply copy and paste the company final response letter and say the consumer failed. They are not accountable to anyone. They do not have a direct dial phone number. You cannot speak to a person. When human beings fail to be accountable, their arbitration is pointless and worthless.

Waste of time. Go straight to court.

They said they read through the evidence submitted by both parties thoroughly before making a decision.

IKEA didn't submit any evidence, they just sent a response admitting guilt and a goodwill gesture.

Retail ADR still judged in their favour.

Scam designed to make you think you can't win in court and to drag it out as long as possible.

Go straight to small claims court and I garauntee you'll win if you have the evidence

Ich war Käufer bei einem online Shop und hatte ein Problem mit der Bestellung
Adr Retail hat mir bei dem Fall geholfen. Das Problem ist geklärt und ich habe den Fall gewonnen!
Vielen Dank!

The Retail ADR service gets provided by CDRL, I filed a complaint about ASOS because they permanently blocked my account for allegedly making too many returns.

However throughout my customer lifetime I kept 33% of items from my orders, which I consider to be a perfectly reasonable purchase/return ratio for online distant shopping whereby items cannot be inspected first-hand prior to purchase.

To my dismay, the adjudicator rejected my claim, upon reading the final determination, it seemed like the adjudicator was solely focused on reciting support for the respondent’s position whilst ignoring the merits of my case. The flaws in the respondent’s comments went unquestioned and the compelling evidence of my claim was neither tested let alone acknowledged.

Also to make matters worse, the adjudicator refused to suggest any remedies, which left my dispute unresolved and feeling very one-sided. The result was of course unsurprising having seen the online reviews before making my complaint.

Terrible service, communication and dashboard. Result only goes one way! Echo what others have said, they are in the pocket of the organisations. Dont drop your claim, go to small claims court and report this organisation.

Do they care about complaints and customer
NO
I wait for a response to my complaint since 31.01.23 and nobody replied online and over the telephone
This is disgusting and totally ignored
My ID case is 17524
They do not follow any time scales and policy and you wait and wait for respond....

I really want to thank RetailADR.
I purchased a service from a well known electrical company. The service provided was terrible and the engineer damaged my TV in the process. The company refused to take responsibility. It was a complete nightmare. I just could not believe how someone can come into my home and damage my property and tell me i i must have done it myself.
Financial ombudsman sign posted me to RetailADR. I sent them all the evidence and they took on my case.
With all the evidence they could see who was at fault. i won my case thanks to RetailADR for all their hard work. They have really helped me in a matter that was so distressing. Please to anyone who has a matter that you know your not responsible. Keep all your evidence, as this will help your case.
A big thank you to all the staff at RetailADR,you do an amazing job and can see the truth. Wishing you all the very best.

A claim against IKEA. Contacting IKEA customer services has in the past been almost impossible. The claim was against Ikea Kitchen Services as the service provided by their fitters was sub-standard. The IKEA kitchen itself was good, but as IKEA employ IKS to do their fittings the claim was with IKEA. I tried for two years with absolutely no success. I wrote three letters to IKEA, phoned numerous times but all to no avail. In the end I was determined to take the matter to court if need be but was referred to RetailADR. They cost nothing and liaised with IKEA on my behalf to achieve a settlement out of court. A brilliant service, which I can't recommend enough. Well done to RetailADR and a big thank you for helping me.

This has wasted months of my life. They admitted the burden of proof was on the retailer but the retailer chose to just ignore the entire thing and didn't respond to dispute resolutions request for information about why my rights weren't upheld, and somehow my claim failed?

I'm actually now not sure what this service is even for.

Claim 12863

Completely and utterly wasted months of my time! To be deceived and ignored. The adjudication succeeded my claim, but still enforced the resolution offered by SCS, which was the whole point for me using Retail ADR as I did not agree with SCS resolution and was disputing it!

SCS failed to repair my sofa on 2 occasions and that is now an ongoing issue which becomes an untimely manner thus in breach of the consumer rights act. They dismissed that. SCS refused the refund which I would be entitled to under the consumer right act less wear and tear, once again Retail ADR also ignored that despite being written in the consumer right act.

Retail ADR unprofessionally dismissed the physical and mental health affects of the ordeal and having to be at war with SCS, who have been utterly unprofessional. They failed to acknowledge any wrong doing of SCS despite succeeding my claim, so for what part they believe I win I do not know!

Retail ADR clearly ignored the evidence I provided for loss of earnings at the fact I have had numerous people out to mysofa across numerous occasions and they want to continue with that! Because people can constantly afford to take time off work loose precious leave days! No, we can not but this was over looked. They refused any form of compensation for the utter service failures given by SCS!

They only detailed their determination after SCS chased, that speaks volumes in itself that they followed SCS wishes! In my opinion under the anti - corruption act, believe there is corruption and bribery between the two companies and that is why consumers never win with ADR as companies can pay them off rather than the customer. My case is a clear demonstration of the corruption as they claimed to have agreed with my complaint yet only sided with SCS for the full resolution and literally have not settled my dispute at all.

No point using them guys, you will just wait 3- 4 months for no outcome that resolves your dispute! They only live for the companies paying them and do not care about consumers, our rights or the detrimental effect this has on us! Unlike the ombudsman you do not even get the option to appeal the decision its basically shut up, put up and let the companies screw you over!

Totally biased, totally unfair, totally unprofessional and beyond unacceptable! They themselves clearly need investigating to uphold a customer dispute yet side with the retailer still!