The specificities of ENGIE Mediation
Beyond the mediation process put in place, in accordance with the regulatory provisions, the ENGIE Group’s Ombudsman offers specific and personalised handling, at the service of the parties involved in the dispute.
Verification by the Mediation service of the implementation of each solution
Each claimant can monitor their cases online
Dialogue as the cornerstone for handling the conflict and the dispute
Each mediation solution personally examined by the Mediator
A multidisciplinary team trained in educational methods and law
Sympathetic ear for each claimant on the telephone
Transparency via the Mediator’s web site and his annual repport
Impartiality, neutrality and independence guaranteed
Single contact available for each claimant
Formulation of general recommendations and annual follow-up of their implementation
Systematic satisfaction survey to help the Mediation team advance
A relationship of trust, confidentiality and benevolence guaranteed
Its practice of resolving disputes primarily favours personalised handling of complainants in order to optimise the success rate.
OBJECTIVE #1 PROCESS THE COMPLAINTS OF THE ENGIE GROUP’S VARIOUS FRENCH ENTITIES AND SUBSIDIARIES AS PART OF A LAST FORM OF AMICABLE RESOLUTION
In volume terms, most of the Ombudsman’s work consists in disputes involving domestic customers in the field of energy supply: gas, electricity and related services.
OBJECTIVE #2 DEVELOP RECOURSE TO MEDIATION WITHIN OTHER SERVICE ENTITIES
when all the levels in charge of the complaints have given their verdict and when their answers fail to satisfy the complainant.
OBJECTIVE #3 PROMOTE AND DEVELOP THE CONCEPT OF AMICABLE RESOLUTION
The ENGIE Group’s Mediation team actively exchanges with all stakeholders, such as consumer organisations, key players in the process. It is also a member of the Club des Médiateurs de Services au Public (Club of Public Service Mediators), which aims to raise public awareness of this amicable dispute resolution method (in particular via its website www.clubdesmediateurs.fr)
The Ombudsman, Jean-Pierre Hervé, has been registered since 25 February 2016, by the CECMC (Commission for Evaluation and Control of Consumer Mediation), in accordance with the provisions of the French Consumer Code (articles L 611-1 to L 641-1, and article R 612-1 to R 616-2), on the list of consumption ombudsmen, and as such, notified to the European Commission. His term was renewed for 5 years on February 22, 2021.
Approval
The ENGIE Group Mediator was approved by the Mediation Assessment and Control Commission on 25 February 2016. His term was renewed for 5 years on February 22, 2021. This state commission, composed of senior judges and qualified personalities from different backgrounds, has a remit to assess and control the activity of consumer mediators. The aim is to guarantee consumers access to competent and independent mediators.
ENGIE Group’s Mediation therefore fully complies with the fundamental rules imposed by French and European regulations:
- Appointment by a joint nominating body, consumer organisations and members of the ENGIE Group,
- Renewable, renewed for 5 years on February 22, 2021, and irrevocable 5-year mandate. At the end of his mandate, the Ombudsman is forbidden to work for ENGIE for at least three years,
- Without any relationship of subordination with ENGIE. The Ombudsman is clearly distinct from the ENGIE Group’s operational bodies,
- Autonomous budget. Every year, the Ombudsman is assigned a budget by the Group’s Senior Management, which gives him the means to carry out his mission independently. The budget is not conditional upon any targets or outcomes of completed mediation processes. Neither is he bound by any cyclical decisions made by the Group. In fact, in 2015, his budget rose because of the increase in his workload and his development plan,
- A team of experts, exclusively dedicated to ENGIE Group’s Mediation,
- Not be in a conflict of interest but, if so, to report it.
Recourse to the ENGIE Group’s Ombudsman is free of charge. The customers may be individuals, companies, local authorities, institutions, public departments, landlords and co-owner associations, etc.
Since his appointment in July 2014, the Ombudsman has defined a development plan for recourse to the amicable resolution of disputes, within all subsidiaries and divisions, in France, Europe and worldwide, for the ENGIE Group, present in 70 countries.