Services Standards: Defining the Core Consumer Elements ... - ANEC

Services Standards
(9) Checklist – the criteria set out in clause 8 are transformed into a checklist.
Whilst the ISO/IEC Draft Guide 76 as it stands today substantially contributes to
the development of “best practice”, it seems rather complex and incomplete
which regard to consumer issues.
Complexity: The key consumer principles (4) and the detailed consideration of
service areas (8) might be merged into one single category. This would allow to
restructure the ISO Guide in the following way:
• Data collection: evaluating the consumer interests in the relevant field
(bottom-up approach)
• Guides, guidelines and standards to consider;
• Core consumer elements on the substance of standard-making, ((4) and
(8) merged);
• Checklist (whether standard-making complies with the above criteria).
Completeness: The two (draft) ISO standards 10001 and 10003 as well as ISO
10002 on consumer satisfaction establish comprehensive rules on codemaking,
complaint handling and out of court settlement, but they do not replace
the need to lay down in a Guide on how to develop key principles on inspection
and monitoring. This means that the ISO/IEC Draft Guide 76 could contain a
separate category:
• Core consumer elements on the enforcement of consumer complaints
(handling, dispute settlement);
• Rules on the inspection and the monitoring of the standard (substance
and enforceability).
a) Impact on standardisation of services
The envisaged ISO guide contains a whole series of important ideas and
elements which will have to be taken into account when drafting the core
consumer elements and the minimum or basic requirements. The
comprehensive approach allows to condense a series of factors into leading
principles. In this respect the draft is a very useful tool for completing the
purposes of this study.
7. Elements of best practice as defined by ANEC in the outline to the
study
In the outline to the study ANEC has set out “core consumer elements” which
cover, inter alia:
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