The End User Experience

What does this service cost the buyer?

It will be up to the licensee to determine the charges, but as a 0900 or 118 call, a premium cost would probably be set, similar to a 118-directory call at around 1 Euro.

Will I be able to talk to a person during my search?

The first time the service is used, the consumer will always talk to a person, who explains the service and helps them through their first use, after this if the consumer chooses to use the automatic version he will not speak to an operator. He can however choose to dial the human agent version of the service. This is the service that is operated in Slovakia.

How long does the service take to deliver the solution back to the buyer?

The service dials out to the sellers as soon as the buyer hangs up. The response time depends on how many suppliers the service must phone to get a solution. This varies by the type of request and the classification, but it is always faster than it could be done manually. In general the solution is returned in under 10 minutes. But on complicated requests, it can take up to 30 minutes. If the service is taking longer than normal the system automatically phones the consumer and warns them that it is taking some time to find a supplier. This give you the opportunity to do other things whilst Responsa does all the work.

What happens if the service cannot find a seller that can accept?

The service will then send a message back to the buyer telling them that unfortunately it has been unable to find a supplier to meet their request. Please note that this information is still useful to the consumer as at least they now know that it might be hard to find a supplier that can do what he has requested.

What about the buyers' privacy in terms of giving their number out to sellers or other companies who could Spam?

The number is only given out to the supplier that the customer wishes to speak to. If this is subsequently abused the supplier will be suspended from the service. The consumer has the option of using the service anonymously, but in this case he must make the phone call to the supplier.

Could the seller deliberately sell a miss-match?

Yes they could – but only if they were prepared to be barred from the service for abusing the system. Built into the responsa system are abuse mechanisms that should trigger investigations by the licensee.