Civic Trust – Who are we
Civic trust is a non-profit organization, founded in 2005 by Galit Avishai. Our main objective is to advance fair business conduct in the Israeli marketplace, by promoting values of integrity and transparency in businesses and empowering consumers to realize their basic consumer rights.

Civic Trust collects, analyzes and conducts independent research, and distributes data based on its work, handling (free of charge) Civic consumer complaints against businesses. It has since become an effective change agent and a reliable source of information for the Civic, the government and the media.

Civic Trust dedicates its efforts towards the protection of consumer rights and disadvantaged communities, to increase the community's awareness to their social rights, and empower these communities to realize their rights.

Civic Trust is an active participant in regulatory and parliamentary committees to ensure proper representation of Civic interests.

Working with the general Civic
Civic trust handles complaints against businesses in Israel. Consumer complaints can be submitted via e-mail/web, fax, mail or phone (In cases the complainant cannot submit the complaint in writing), and are handled free of charge.

The complaints are the fuel that activate the system. A complaint is the consumer's first and most legitimate way to change and influence a business's conduct– the compliant is registered, processed and handled by Civic Trust and it affects the profile of every business.

Civic Trust analyzes complaints received in order to identify specific structural market failures. Then, we find effective and practical solutions to solve a range of issues, such as "taking on" a particular fraudulent business, authoring and promoting legislation, etc.

The complaint handling process takes into account both the personal and public aspect of each complaint. Through the complaint, we can learn about market issues and failures and act to prevent them.

It has been shown through careful analysis that certain communities in Israel are unaware of their basic social rights, nor are they able to demand their rights. These communities include the elderly, new immigrants, people with disabilities, and other socially disadvantaged communities. Civic Trust executes special projects to assist these communities, in order to increase their member’s awareness to their social rights, and empower them to realize these rights. These special projects includes, for example, women at risk in rehabilitation centers and senior citizens.

Every business against which a complaint has been filed receives a copy with an attached description of the complaint and the alleged breach of a rule of conduct. It has been proved through domestic and international research and experience that a considerable portion of the complaints is effectively resolved when the referring body clearly explains the nature of the complaint.

Special projects for targeted communities
Civic Trust's experience and independent research supports existing data which shows that some public segments in Israel are exposed to consumer injustice more than the general public, and the damage inflicted upon them is exceptionally high. Such sectors and communities cannot be catered by the work done with the general public, due to limited awareness of many social rights, lack of legislation or lack of regulatory enforcement. Therefore, Civic Trust dedicates a major part of its efforts to protect social rights of disadvantaged communities in Israel.

Civic Trust have initiated special projects with the purpose of assisting these communities, to increase the communities' awareness to their social rights, and empower these communities to realize their rights. Civic Trust hopes that, with the support of major contributors and our dedicated team, these types of projects will generate considerable change for the afflicted communities.

Working with the business sector
Civic Trust has developed a self-regulatory Code of Conduct for businesses. The Code sets a high standard of integrity, fairness and transparency and provides practical guidance for the businesses to implement. The Code's principals are based on Israeli law as well as on similar codes of ethics adopted elsewhere in the world.

Businesses that commit to the Civic Trust Code of Conduct receive the Civic Trust Seal of Approval. Civic Trust provides a range of services and management tools designed to support the successful implementation of the Code and to minimize consumer-related risks. In addition, the Civic Trust continuously reviews and monitors the conduct of the Committed Businesses to ensure adherence to the Code. The Seal may be revoked from businesses that do not adhere to the Code, in accordance with the Civic Trust public procedures.

Approximately 280 companies are currently committed to the Civic Trust Code of Conduct, with more companies joining each month.

How the complaints center works
Complaints submitted by the public are the fuel that activates the Civic Trust system.

  • Civic Trust's complaint handling takes into consideration both its personal as well as its public aspects. Through every complaint, the organization can learn about patterns and business practices ant their manifestation, and make a decision as to how to act regarding the complaint and regarding the phenomena it represents.
  • The goal of complaint processing is a quick and efficient solution for consumers. In parallel, complaint handling it serves as a way to check and monitor the Committed Businesses operations and the business sector as a whole.
  • International experience proves that considerable portions of complaints are effectively resolved when the referring body clearly explains the nature of the complaint. Civic Trust handles complaints and operates in conjunction with most of the businesses in Israel, whether they are committed to the Civic Trust rules or not.
  • Every business against which a complaint has been filed receives a copy with an attached description of the complaint and the alleged breach of a rule or law.
  • Civic Trust ensures that the business has the opportunity to respond to the complaint filed against it, and the consumer has the opportunity to relate to the business' response.
  • Every complaint is added to the Civic Trust complaints database and is used for analysis of businesses' conduct as well as for processing similar complaints in the future.

    Ways to file a complaint in the Civic Trust Complaints Center

    • Civic Trust makes it easy for consumers to file a complaint by generating high accessibility to the Complaints Center. In light of the importance of consumer complaints, the Civic Trust Complaints Center receives complaints through all media, including e-mail, mail, and fax.

  • To improve the service efficiency, we ask that complaints be submitted by using the Civic Trust complaints form. The form can then be printed from the website or sent by mail upon request. When submitting a complaint by phone Civic Trust representative will fill out the complaint form together with the consumer.
  • Complaints received by e-mail will automatically be responded to by e-mail confirmation.
  • The Complaints Center is staffed from 15:00 to 17:00, Sunday through Thursday, by operators who receive consumer complaints.

To file a complaint click here

 

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