Particulars of the body: The PO Box 5000 service is managed, in those departments where it is provided, by the Direction Départementale de la Concurrence, de la Consommation et de la Répression des Fraudes (DDCCRF). The departments with a PO Box 5000 service are listed in the following table:

All letters sent to PO Box 5000 (the address 'BP 5000' followed by the department number is sufficient) reach the local DDCCRF, which takes responsibility for sending them on.

Example: to send a letter to the Paris PO Box 5000: write 'BP 5000 - 75' on the envelope.

Structure: As consumers are often reluctant to start time-consuming court proceedings whose outcome may be unpredictable or of negligible value, the authorities have set up the PO Box 5000 service to enable consumers to settle minor disputes through conciliation at no cost to themselves. Professional organisations and consumer associations in the department all contribute to the PO Box 5000 service.

Powers: PO Box 5000 receives written correspondence from consumers. This may be:

The former are treated as complaints and forwarded directly to the competent administration (DDCCRF for example) to be followed up. The latter go to an amicable procedure.

Amicable procedure - Nature of the Decision and Enforcement: Disputes which can be dealt with through an amicable procedure are handled by the PO Box 5000 service of the department where the head office of the firm with which the consumer is in dispute is located. If a consumer writes to the PO Box 5000 of his own department when the head office of the firm is situated in another department, the letter is forwarded to the PO Box 5000 of the latter department.

The amicable settlement procedure: Letters are split between the consumer associations and professional organisations providing the department's PO Box 5000 service (the number and kind of associations involved, and the practicalities of the split, vary from one department to another in line with the local context). The consumer association or professional organisation in charge of the case will then approach the firm concerned, in order to work towards an amicable settlement of the dispute. If this initial mediation is unsuccessful, the dispute goes to a reconciliation board working for each PO Box 5000 and headed by the director of the departmental CCRF.

Cost: There is no cost to the consumer.