Mediation is a free and voluntary process. This means that the parties can withdraw from the process whenever they wish and are at liberty to refuse the mediation solution and resort to other courses of action at their disposal (National Energy Ombudsman, if he has authority, a competent court, etc.), when the ENGIE Ombudsman’s solution does not satisfy them.
It is important to bear in mind that the freedom of action of the parties is also a key success factor: in 20186, 9085% of the solutions were accepted by claimants. More particularly because they are free to put a lot of effort into jointly working out the solution, as this approach is permitted by the process put in place by the ENGIE Group’s Mediator, that affects a unique mediation officer to each mediation, and who will contact (by phone) the claimant to support him during the process.
Submitting your matter to the Mediator does not preclude you form referring it to the National Energy Ombudsman if your complaint qualifies, or to a judge, if the mediation solution does not satisfy you.
You should just bear in mind that each mediation case is assessed on a case-by-case basis and that if the solution proposed by another authority dissatisfies you or ultimately seems less favourable than the one proposed by the ENGIE Ombudsman, you cannot backtrack on your decision and accept the ENGIE Mediator’s solution.
Furthermore, a judge will rule on the basis of applicable rules of law, and he may reach a different conclusion from that of the Ombudsman, who seeks not just a lawful solution but more importantly the fairest possible solution.