Consumer Complaints

Making a formal consumer complaint 
If you have attempted to resolve your issue with the dealer or broker agent and have been unsuccessful, you can make a formal consumer complaint to the VSA. To find out more, click here. 

What complaints can the VSA investigate  
The VSA only investigates consumer complaints if a complaint involves all of the following requirements: 

1. An alleged violation by a VSA licensee of the Motor Dealer Act and related regulations, and/or certain sections of the Business Practices and Consumer Protection Act. To find out more about the VSA’s legislative authority, click here. 
   
2. Certain types of motor vehicles. To learn more about which vehicles fall within the VSA’s jurisdiction, click here.  
   
3. A business or individual licensed by the VSA for consumer transaction – as a motor dealer, broker agent or salesperson. You can check this in the  VSA’s Licensee Directory. 
   
4. A consumer transaction. To find out more,  click here. 

The VSA does not investigate complaints about deposits and dealer fees. 

Alternative Dispute Resolution  
If a consumer complaint is not an option for you, the VSA can still help. You can use our alternative dispute resolution tools My Self-Help to get information about your legal rights and responsibilities of dealers and to take action to resolve your issue.  If eligible, My Self-Help will provide you with access to the VSA’s online dispute resolution platform Connector to try and resolve your issue directly with the dealer.  In many cases, this may be faster than the formal consumer complaint process. For find out more about My Self-Help and Connector, click here. 

If the VSA cannot help, we will provide you with information about other organizations that may be of help. To find out more, click here. 

Complaint timelines 
The average time from making a complaint to receiving an outcome depends on the nature and complexity of complaint issues and is: 

• 30 days if investigation is not required,  

• 95 days if investigation is required, and  

• 267 days if a hearing by the Registrar of Motor Dealers is required.  

Information about the status of a complaint 
We will inform you when the status of your complaint changes.  If you made your complaint application online, you will be able to check its status anytime by using the VSA’s Consumer Portal.  

Steps in the complaint process 

1. If possible, we will facilitate dispute resolution between you and the licensed business involved in your complaint. We may refer you to the VSA alternative dispute resolution tools My Self-Help and Connector to try and resolve your issue directly with the dealer. 
2. We will review your complaint application. 
   • If your application is incomplete, we will contact you about what is still needed 
   • If the VSA has no legal authority to investigate your complaint, we will notify you of that in writing.   
3. Once the complaint application is complete and we are satisfied that we may have authority to investigate it, we will provide a copy of the complaint to the dealer. They will have 10 business days to send the VSA a response.  Once we receive that, we will send you a copy.
4. During the investigation, VSA will contact you as needed. The scope and length of the investigation will depend on the complexity of the complaint issues, availability of staff resources and how responsive you, the motor dealer, witnesses and outside agencies are when requests are made. 
5. In rare cases, a formal hearing by the Registrar of Motor Dealers may be necessary to decide the issues of your complaint. 
6. The VSA will notify you in writing about the outcome of your complaint and will provide reasons for the decision. Your options, if you disagree with the results of the investigation, will also be provided. 

To learn more about the VSA’s processes for consumer complaints please see the VSA’s policies on the VSA website.