We sell to the public, and every new channel seems to bring a set of rules nobody told us about.
Selling to consumers carries obligations that do not apply business to business: cancellation rights, pre-contract information, terms that must be fair to be enforceable, and marketing rules that changed again this year. We own the paper and the process so growth does not create exposure behind it.
Dinmore Bell acts as the outsourced General Counsel for consumer-facing businesses: terms and conditions, returns and cancellation rights, supplier and concession agreements, marketing compliance and the disputes that follow. It is a retained function on a fixed monthly fee.
How we own it
Terms that are actually enforceable
A consumer term that is unfair is not merely criticised, it is unenforceable — which means the clause you rely on is not there when you need it. We write terms that hold, in language a customer can follow.
Every channel, one set of paper
Marketplace, concession, wholesale, direct and franchise arrangements each carry different terms and usually accumulate separately. We bring them into one structure so a change of price or policy does not need six negotiations.
Complaints before they become claims
A complaints process that resolves the resolvable quickly and identifies the small number that need a firmer answer — with the correspondence written as though a regulator may one day read it.
Where specialists come in
Trading Standards investigations, prosecutions and any matter before a court or tribunal are conducted by regulated specialists whom we instruct and coordinate. Advice on regulated consumer credit, on financial promotions, and on product safety enforcement is taken from appropriately authorised advisers. We hold the budget and remain accountable for the outcome.
Services we run here
- Do you write our website terms and privacy notice?
- Yes, and we keep them current rather than delivering them once. Consumer and data rules move, and a notice that was right two years ago is a liability rather than a protection.
- We are moving into the EU. Does that change things?
- Considerably — consumer protection, distance selling and product compliance all differ. We scope what changes, instruct local specialists where a rule needs local authority, and keep it as one workstream.