Answering a Motor Industry Ombudsman complaint
How a customer's complaint reaches the Motor Industry Ombudsman of South Africa, how long a dealer has to respond, and the records to have ready.
By Achekam · · 5 min read · For Automotive businesses in South Africa
The e-mail from the Motor Industry Ombudsman of South Africa lands in the general inbox on a Monday. A customer whose car was serviced months ago says the workshop damaged the turbo, the dealer refused to help, and they want the repair paid for. The dealer principal remembers the car vaguely. The service adviser who handled it has left. The job card is somewhere.
Every dealer and independent workshop will receive one of these eventually. How the business responds in the first days decides whether the complaint is resolved on the facts or on whoever tells the more convincing story. This article explains how complaints reach MIOSA, how long a business has to answer, and how to build a response file before you need one.
The ladder a customer is expected to climb
MIOSA does not expect customers to come straight to it. It tells consumers to raise a complaint first with the selling or servicing dealer, then to insist that a manufacturer's representative reviews it, then to contact the manufacturer's customer care department, and only then to approach MIOSA, keeping records at each step. MIOSA's page on submitting a motor vehicle complaint sets out each step for consumers.
For a dealer, that sequence is an opportunity. Most complaints pass through the dealership before they reach anyone else, so the business usually has the first chance to resolve them. Treat every complaint at the counter as if it might one day be read by the Ombudsman: acknowledge it in writing, investigate it, and give the customer a written answer.
For an independent workshop with no manufacturer above it, the middle rungs may not apply in the same way, but the principle holds: the customer's first complaint is to you.
How long you have
Once a complaint reaches MIOSA, MIOSA says the dealer or industry participant is given 10 days to respond. If a supplier still refuses to take part in conciliation after three attempts, the complainant is told within 22 days.
MIOSA also quotes the South African Automotive Industry Code of Conduct as requiring it to determine a dispute within 30 (thirty) days of receiving all the documentation and information it needs to make an informed decision. The clock on that decision starts when MIOSA has everything it needs, which means a business that sends its documents promptly and completely helps the matter reach a decision sooner.
Ten days is not long when the documents are scattered across a filing room, a technician's phone and a former employee's e-mail account. That is the argument for building the file as the work is done, not when the complaint arrives.
Why ignoring the Ombudsman is not an option
MIOSA cites section 82(8) of the Consumer Protection Act, which says a supplier must not, in the ordinary course of business, contravene an applicable industry code. It also cites section 108(1)(a), which makes it an offence to hinder, oppose, obstruct or unduly influence any person exercising a power or duty under the Act.
In plain terms: the industry code that MIOSA administers is not a voluntary club rule a business can opt out of when a complaint is inconvenient, and obstructing the process carries its own risk. Engage with the complaint, even when you are confident the customer is wrong.
Inspections and who pays
Some complaints turn on the physical condition of the vehicle, and MIOSA may arrange an inspection. MIOSA says its services are free to consumers except when an on-site product inspection is required, and that any inspection by an assessor may be for the complainant's account.
For the business, an inspection is a moment to have your own evidence ready: the condition of the vehicle when it was booked in, the work done, the parts fitted, and what the vehicle looked like when it left. Photos taken at check-in and at collection are often the most persuasive evidence in an inspection dispute.
Building the response file
The response file for any job should contain the same things, in the same order:
- The check-in record: date, mileage, the customer's description of the problem, and photos.
- The estimate and authorisations: the signed estimate, and any recorded approvals for extra work.
- The job card: work done, technician, hours and parts fitted, with part numbers.
- The invoice: as issued, with any credit notes.
- Messages: every e-mail, SMS or WhatsApp exchange with the customer about the job.
- The complaint trail: the customer's complaint, your investigation notes and your written answer.
If the file exists before the complaint, the response to MIOSA is a matter of sending it with a covering letter that addresses each of the customer's points.
Keeping and sharing the file in Achekam
Achekam's Document Centre is a folder-based store where a business uploads files or whole folders, previews, downloads, renames, moves, tags, archives and searches them, and a new version keeps the earlier ones. A folder per job, or per vehicle, holds the whole response file in one place.
Every stored file gets a SHA-256 fingerprint, executable files are refused by default, and every upload passes a malware check; the check uses ClamAV only where the server is configured for it, and a built-in heuristic check runs otherwise. The fingerprint lets you show that a job card filed at the time of the work is the same file you are now sending, which matters when a customer suggests documents were changed after the complaint.
To send the file, a document can be shared by e-mailing a personal link with an expiry, an optional one-time code, and download allowed or not, and the share can be revoked. That gives you a record of exactly what was sent to MIOSA, and when.
For the authorisations that make the strongest evidence, see repair estimates under section 15 of the CPA; for how long to keep the files, read how long a workshop should keep job cards.
A complaint answered with a complete file within the time allowed is a complaint decided on the facts. That is usually the best outcome a business can hope for.
General guidance only, not advice on your own circumstances. Tax and payroll rules change: check the current position with the authority or your adviser.
