Complaints

Before making a complaint about a member agency, please read this guidance first.

Anyone considering making a complaint to the DAA about one of our member agencies is invited to read this page carefully before proceeding.

1. All member agencies of the DAA are required by our conditions of membership to comply with the Code of Practice (CoP) published on this website at https://datingagencyassociation.org.uk/code-of-practice/. Nevertheless, the DAA is not a regulatory authority. 

2. If a client of one of our agencies has cause to complain about that agency they must, in the first instance, take up the complaint directly with the agency concerned. If this results in the complaint remaining unresolved, the complainant may then make application to the DAA. 

3. If the DAA is asked by a client of one of our member agencies to investigate a complaint against that agency, and if the nature of the complaint is within our mandate to investigate, we will consider carefully if the agency has complied with each and every relevant article of the CoP and report our findings to the complainant and to the agency concerned. We are not empowered to extend our investigation outside this mandate. 

4. If we find that the dating agency in question has complied with every relevant section of the CoP, we will make that clear to the complainant and to the agency. 

5. Nevertheless, should one of our member agencies be found to have breached the CoP in dealings with a client we will make that clear to both complainant and agency. If the complainant decides independently to take further action, we can only then advise them to consider professional mediation (if both parties agree). If that fails to resolve the complaint, the next option is to apply to your local county court to make a court claim (formerly known as going to the small claims court). In this case the report prepared on your behalf by the DAA can be put before the court allowing the court to understand more clearly the circumstances. That is all we are authorised to do.  

6. Should you wish to proceed with this latter option, you will need to make a formal request to the agency for your personal file. Furthermore the file needs to be sent to the DAA in hard copy and the administrative costs of this must be borne by the agency or the client.

7. Formal complaints against member agencies are very rare. In the event of a client having a disagreement with a member agency we always advise a reflective pause and then a discussion with the agency before embarking on a formal complaint procedure.