Complaints and Dispute Resolution Procedure
Forestry Sales Limited, trading as Searle Forestry, is a licensed real estate agent under the Real Estate Agents Act 2008. Rule 12 of the Real Estate Agents Act (Professional Conduct and Client Care) Rules 2012 requires every licensed agency to have a written in-house complaints and dispute resolution procedure. Ours is set out below.
You do not have to use our procedure. You may make a complaint directly to the Real Estate Authority at any time, and you may complain to the Authority even if you also choose to use our procedure. Using our procedure does not affect your right to complain to the Authority.
Our in-house procedure
Our procedure is designed to give you a simple, personal process for resolving any concern about the service you have received from Searle Forestry or any of our licensees.
Step 1 – Tell us. Contact Warwick Searle, Director and licensee in charge, on 021 362 778 or at [email protected], or write to Forestry Sales Limited trading as Searle Forestry, 32 Amorino Drive, Red Beach 0932. Tell us who your complaint is about, what your concerns are, and what you would like done about it. If your complaint is about Warwick Searle personally, you may prefer to take it directly to the Real Estate Authority, whose details are below.
Step 2 – We acknowledge and investigate. We will acknowledge your complaint within two working days. We may ask you to put it in writing so that it can be investigated properly. We will speak with the team members involved and come back to you with a response within ten working days of receiving your complaint. The response may be in writing, and we may invite you to meet with us to discuss the complaint and try to agree a resolution.
Step 3 – Written proposal. If we cannot reach an agreed resolution at a meeting, or you prefer not to meet, we will give you a written proposal to resolve your complaint.
Step 4 – Your response. If you do not accept our proposal, please tell us in writing within five working days. You are welcome to suggest another way of resolving the complaint.
Step 5 – Resolution or mediation. If we accept your preferred resolution we will put it into effect as soon as possible. If we decline it, we may invite you to mediate the dispute with an independent mediator.
Step 6 – End of our process. If we agree to mediate but the complaint is not settled at mediation, or if we do not agree to mediate, that is the end of our in-house procedure. You may then take your complaint to the Real Estate Authority, or to any other body you choose.
Complaining to the Real Estate Authority
The Real Estate Authority (REA) is the independent government regulator of the real estate industry in New Zealand. You can complain to the REA at any time, whether or not you have used our procedure.
- Website: www.rea.govt.nz
- Phone: 0800 367 732 (free within New Zealand) or +64 4 471 8930
- Email: [email protected]
- Post: Real Estate Authority, PO Box 25 371, Wellington 6140
Our commitments
- We will treat every complaint seriously, courteously and confidentially, and we will not treat you differently for having made one.
- We will keep a written record of each complaint and how it was resolved, as the Rules require.
- Where a complaint reveals something we need to improve, we will change the way we work.
Forestry Sales Limited trading as Searle Forestry, Licensed REAA 2008. Last reviewed November 2026.
Forestry Sales Limited trading as Searle Forestry, Licensed REAA 2008 | www.searleforestry.com