As an Australian-based business, REALM is beholden to informing our service users of their rights and responsibilities, as well as our business obligations and rights. REALM has created policies to uphold the Customer and Consultant rights and these are available in their “Toolbox” in their respective Dashboards. The customer is obligated to report any grievances to REALM Spiritual advisors int eh first instance and allow a reasonable time for us to respond to these grievances. REALM has created a Complaints policy and process, which is in the Customer Toolbox to support all parties to an amicable resolution. While the process of compliance can be arduous – they uphold the values of an ethical site with integrity that makes REALM stand out against other international platforms offering a similar service. Furthermore, REALM, as a provider of a Platform (and not an employer), has two forms of Customer Service and Consumer protection to adhere to Member Consultants/Advisors and Member Customers. Consumer protection is empowered through a Pay As You Go [PAYG] Service delivery where the Customer can terminate a call at any time if they believe that the service is either inappropriate or unsatisfactory.
REALM Spiritual Advisors is in the business of human and spiritual services. Services we provide include Psychic, Spiritual, and Healing modalities, tips and strategies for good health and well-being.
Customers can visit our "Psychic Fayre" to preview our Consultant categories, services and rates. Services provided are by audio, video or chat messenger. The Fayre view shows both the rates and discounted rates. Consultants set their rates, and Customers pay for services by the minute "Pay As You Go' [PAYG]. Customers do not have to fund their wallets to join REALM.
Customers can click on the images to 'view more and see:
Discounts and Consumer Protection
Consultants have the liberty to participate in marketing and promotional discounts or not. It is unlawful to run a 'permanent discounted rate' if the advertised deal is the permanent rate. To promote, the regular rate as a 'discounted rate' is deemed by regulators as false advertising.
Consultants can legitimately run discounts for specific purposes. For instance:
"I offer discount rates every Tuesday between 9 and 3 AEST".
"I do not participate in REALM marketing and promotional discounts because i already keep my rates low"
Note: Consultants MUST adhere to what is on their profile. Consultants have the liberty to change their profiles, rates and services
Consultants planning to remove an advertised discount (or reduce the discount) must offer the Customer advance notice of the changes. For instance, if the Consultant offers a 20% discount sale on a Tuesday between 9 and 3 AEST (and has this stated on their profile) wishes to change the offer to 10% discount on Monday between 12-3 AEST the Consultant needs to provide forewarning to the customer BEFORE the change. The consultant can do this by updating their biography, putting an end date on their offer, and then putting the new offer beneath it. On the day the new offer comes into effect, they can remove the content about the previous offer.
The Customer has ‘Consumer Protections’ as follows:
Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Clth).
Regulator: Australian Competition and Consumer Commission [ACCC]
The law states that customers should be protected from “Fanciful Claims”, where the seller makes ‘claims’ or gives misleading information about the product or services they provide, especially if there is no evidence to support the information the seller makes. REALM is in the business of providing spiritual support and help to our customers, and the nature of our industry is one that has either very little or no scientific evidence to support or substantiate the claims made by our Consultants. Therefore we cannot make guarantees on our services. While false claims can incur large financial penalties, the law states that claims that are outlandish or ‘so far-fetched’ to be implausible or unbelievable does not incur penalty.
The law states that Unconscionable Conduct occurs when the customer is either directly or indirectly harmed as a consequence of receiving a service. In these instances the customer may have a right to a ‘remedy or repair’.
Consultants have a Code of Ethics agreed to in their Terms of Use. The code states that they will:
Customers who are dissatisfied with their service can formalise a complaint to management. All complaints are investigated, and where the complaint contains an allegation of misconduct by a Consultant, the Customer should be aware that the Consultant has a legal right of response and to be informed of the nature of the complaint. REALM takes any complaints seriously and will investigate them promptly. Complaints investigation may include obtaining a transcript or recording of the service provided as evidence as part of making an outcome decision, and both the Consultant and the Customer agree to this in their Terms of Use.
REALM has taken a number of measures to provide information to Customers in the process of selecting their advisor. This includes the provision of a Consultant biography which has flags to show their country of origin, and the languages they speak, as well as a biography that explains what they do and how they work. The onus of responsibility lies on the Customer in these instances.
Unsuitable grounds include:
REALM compliance Actions:
Customers have the right to receive what they expect to receive when making a payment. This applies to PRODUCT. We cannot provide a Warranty or Guarantee on Service Delivery. For example, if a person attended movie or a music concert and decided it was 'not to their taste' or dissatisfied they would not be contacting the organiser to request a refund. Another example would be that if a person paid for a service with a Therapist or similar, and decided they didn't like them or how they worked, creating a payment dispute is unethical. The correct response is to not use that service provider in future. REALM provides other Consultants for the Customer to connect with, and they are encouraged to leave their Feedback and review on the consultants' profile
As a service provider, and the nature of our ‘industry’ of faith and spirituality, and belief, REALM cannot make guarantees about customer satisfaction as faith and belief are personal values. Every individual is unique, as is every service. If REALM expands into the Business of providing flawed and/or faulty PRODUCTS, then we will revisit our refund policy. The way we manage customer satisfaction is through policies of BUYER BEWARE and customer ratings and reviews, to inform our customers as much as possible so that they can make an 'informed decision' or 'calculated risk'. Customers can access the Warranty and Guarantee policy in their Toolbox.
Customers are supported in the selection of their service through the provision of the consultant profiles, which outline the relevant operational information, and rates. Customers are encouraged to leave honest feedback after receiving a service as part of assisting future customers to make an informed decision.
REALM compliance Actions:
Consultant Feedback, Ratings and Review Policy. **NOTE: The Customer should also be aware that the reviews are the opinions or responses of an individual and do not necessarily reflect a group experience. There may be any number of influencing factors around the Feedback.
When you register with REALM as a customer you are creating an online account with access to a wallet. REALM uses the services of a Third Party Payment Gateway to receive funds, which customers are directed to when funding their wallet. REALM does not make the Terms and Conditions of the Payment Gateway and refers customers to their Terms of Service. The wallet must be funded to a minimum of $40 USD to be able to connect with our consultants. The platform currency is US dollars. REALM DOES NOT HAVE ACCESS TO OR RETAIN YOUR PAYMENT INFORMATION SUCH AS CREDIT CARD DETAILS.
REALM Compliance Actions:
Customers can review their payment and credit history in the wallet in their dashboard. They can also review their Call history, and Feedback and rating history.
REALM has an overarching NO REFUNDS policy and does not pay cash refunds. REALM may at their discretion provide a Full or partial Customer Wallet Credit under certain conditions. Service is provided PAYG and by the minute, the customer can terminate a call at any time and is not locked into paying money they don’t want to spend, or because the service was not what they hoped to receive. Refund requests are treated and processed as complaints, with the inclusion of the Consultant in any decisions for Wallet Credits. REALM has a complaints register which identifies risk of exploitation of the Customer or Consultant. Any Customer that is found to be making Credit requests on a regular basis will have their membership revoked. Consultants found to be acting questionably in violation of the Conduct and Consumer protection laws will have their membership revoked and our business relationship terminated.
Unsuitable grounds for a Refund Request:
REALM compliance Actions:
Customers have agreed in their Terms of Use to refrain from the activities of “Chargeback”. Chargebacks are where the customer cancels the payment after receiving the service. This practice not only exploits the consultant from being paid for their services, the banks and merchant facilities charge processing fees which means that the Consultant not only is not paid, it costs them money to provide their service and time to the customer. The Customer will have their membership revoked. Any credit card fraud will be reported to the authorities pending criminal charges.
Privacy and Confidentiality Act 1988 (Clth).
Regulator: Office of the Australian Information Commission [OIAC]
REALM is obligated to outline how we gather information, how we use the information, share and protect it. REALM gathers certain information about our customers when they register to use our site. We do not share, sell or use the information for any other purpose than enhance the customer experience. You can see the information we can access about you in your Dashboard. This information is protected through the use of passwords, and our Developers and server state that REALM has SQL trusted server status. While this status is about the best on the market, it does not mean that it is infallible and Customers must be aware that any digital information is at risk of ‘hackers’. REALM ethos is that privacy and confidentiality in this industry is vital.
REALM Compliance Actions:
Telecommunications Act 1997 (Clth)
Spam Act 2003 (Clth).
Regulator: Australian Communications and Media Authority [ACMA]
Telecommunications refers to the audio/visual methods of communication, such as internet-based communication which applies to Video, phone and digital communications such as emails and phone numbers.
The use of email information in Australia is regulated under the SPAM Act 2003, and carries extremely harsh penalties and hefty fines to those businesses that misuse or email spam their customers. WE DO NOT SHARE, SELL, OR PROVIDE OUR EMAIL LISTS OR YOUR EMAIL DETAILS TO ANY OTHER THIRD PARTY. Customers MUST report any problem to REALM Spiritual Advisors in the first instance and allow a reasonable time frame for REALM to resolve the problem including potentially manual override of our system to remove them from the mailing list. REALM is committed to protecting the rights of people to live free from interference from outsiders (as a fundamental human right). REALM must inform our customers and visitors how we use their email addresses. When you register with REALM Spiritual Advisors you provide your email address as part of your user and membership details. Your email may be added to our marketing and promotion email lists until you Unsubscribe. Types of emails you may receive include the following: marketing and promotions we are conducting; Site Developments; Changes to Policy; Surveys to enhance the Customer experience; Responses to Complaints, Suggestions or Feedback; or Customer Enquiries. Customers can Unsubscribe and Subscribe to receive emails at their leisure.
Customers do not have the option to refuse to accept business emails such as advising of any legal and policy changes that impact on how we do buseiness or our customer service policies.
REALM compliance actions include:
While it is possible to record conversations in Australia legitimately, the requirements for it to be legal are too complex for it to be implemented as one of our services on REALM because of the requirements around privacy and confidentiality. Customer and Consultants should be aware that ALL digital communications have a foot print. While REALM does not keep recordings or transcripts of the services, these are held by our Communications provider as a legal operational requirement. What this means is that they government licenses them to operate on the provision that they retain the transcripts for X period of time before they are destroyed. Businesses can legally request a copy of transcripts and recordings when conducting an investigation into complaints of misconduct. Our customers and consultants are reminded that we may obtain either a recording of a service or a transcript during the investigation of a complaint, especially if the complaint involves consultant misconduct.
REALM Compliance Actions:
**Exceptions to third party presence is where the presence of the person is identified to the other party and both parties are in agreement with their presence, especially if the presence relates to a disability need.
Australian censorship laws are complex, with many different laws for different purposes and different regulatory bodies. Within the context of REALM we have obligations to provide a safe working environment for our consultants. We do censor consultant profiles, reviewing them for content that might be compromising (however, we do not claim to be 100% reliable in our censorship efforts and Consultants and customers are encouraged to seek advice if they believe that something we have in public view is questionable or to formalise a complaint to REALM to review the content). This includes the feedback left by customers after receiving a service.
Rules of thumb are that websites should not contain:
REALM Compliance Actions:
REALM reserves the right to change policies from time to time. These changes occur as part of ensuring ongoing legal compliances and streamlining processes as part of ongoing development to enhance the customer experience. Our Members will be advised of changes to policy that might impact upon them and the way they deliver their services (or receive them). Notification may occur by email, or by automated message when signing in.
