La Lista exists to bring vendors and couples closer together. There will be occasions where couples and vendors have negative experiences. La Lista’s Team are here to help. Detailed below is the current Complaints Procedure. This is always open to feedback.

La Lista is not a court, regulator, or arbitrator. We provide a complaints process as a service to our community, but our decisions are made at our sole discretion and are not legal rulings. We do not determine legal liability, fault, or entitlement to compensation.

By using this complaints process, you acknowledge that you are not entitled to any particular outcome, and that our decision to uphold, partially uphold, or dismiss a complaint (or to remove, edit, or leave up a post) is final, subject only to the appeals process above.

No verification of claims

We are not able to independently verify the accuracy or completeness of information provided by complainants, venues, vendors, or anyone else involved in a complaint. We make decisions based on the information and evidence provided to us, acting in good faith and using our reasonable judgement. We do not guarantee that our decisions are correct, and we accept no responsibility for any inaccuracies in information provided to us by any party.

Exclusion of liability

To the fullest extent permitted by law, La Lista shall not be liable for any loss or damage arising from or in connection with:

– any decision we make under this protocol, including decisions to uphold or dismiss complaints, to remove or leave up posts, or to suspend or terminate memberships;

– any delay in handling a complaint or any failure to meet the timeframes set out in this protocol;

– any action we take (or decline to take) in response to a complaint;

– the content of any complaint, review, or post made by any user of our communities;

– any reliance you place on the outcome of a complaint;

– any dispute between a complainant and a vendor or venue, regardless of whether we have been involved.

This exclusion applies to direct loss, indirect loss, loss of profit, loss of revenue, loss of business, loss of goodwill, reputational damage, and any other loss or damage of any kind, whether in contract, tort (including negligence), breach of statutory duty, or otherwise.

ASKING LA LISTA FOR ADVICE

If you have had an encounter with a client or vendor and you’d like to ask La Lista’s team for their professional opinion, please email hello@lalista.com This conversation will always be private.

MAKING A COMPLAINT TO LA LISTA

All La Lista members agree to a code of ethics when they apply for The Directory membership. La Lista’s Team vet all members before approval for membership. If we have reason to believe a member has broken the code of ethics their membership may be paused while this is investigated. If it is concluded that the member has broken any of the ethics of La Lista, their membership will be revoked and the annual membership fee retained.

If you wish to make a complaint about a La Lista member or a non La Lista member please email hello@lalista.com. Please see the complaints procedure below to be clear on the process; complaints must be supported with evidence.

Complaints about vendors or venues

This section applies if you're a couple (or other community member) who has had a problem with a vendor or venue and wants La Lista to look into it.

Try to resolve it directly first

Before making a formal complaint, we'd encourage you to contact the other party directly. Many issues come down to miscommunication and can be sorted out with a conversation.

If you're not sure how to approach this, you're welcome to email us at hello@lalista.com for advice – we're happy to help you think through what to say.

If you've already tried to resolve things directly and got nowhere, or if the issue is serious enough that direct contact doesn't feel appropriate, read on.

How to make a complaint to us

Email hello@lalista.com with 'Complaint' in the subject line. Please include:

– Your name and contact details

– The vendor or venue name

– When the issue happened

– What went wrong

– Any evidence you have

Evidence

We need something to work with. Useful evidence includes contracts, payment receipts, emails, messages, photos, or screenshots with timestamps. It includes direct evidence, not hearsay from other people or posts in other forums.

You've got 7 days from when we acknowledge your complaint to send us your evidence. If nothing comes through, we'll close the complaint.

POSTING A COMPLAINT DIRECT INTO OUR COMMUNITIES

If you want to share a negative experience in our Facebook group or The Club forum, that's fine – honest feedback is valuable for other couples. But please read this section first. Reviews can have real consequences for businesses, and for you if you get it wrong.

Stick to facts you can back up. "The flowers arrived two hours late" is a fact. "They're the worst florist in Italy" is not. If you make factual claims, be prepared to provide evidence if asked.

Be fair and balanced. If there were positives as well as negatives, include both.

Don't exaggerate. Describe what actually happened, no matter how strongly you feel.

Focus on the service, not the person. Avoid personal attacks or offensive language about individuals.

Think twice if there's an ongoing dispute. If you're in the middle of a complaint, legal dispute, or chargeback, consider waiting until it's resolved. Posting publicly during a dispute can complicate things and may expose you to legal risk.

Disclose any conflicts of interest. If you have a personal or business connection to a vendor (friend, family, received a discount), you must say so.

A word on defamation: Defamation is illegal in Italy. A review that contains false statements of fact, is exaggerated, or is written maliciously to damage a business could be defamatory. If a vendor believes they've been defamed, they may take legal action against you. Make sure you can evidence everything you write.

If your post doesn't follow these rules, we may ask you to edit it or provide evidence, and we may remove it if you don't. Repeated breaches could result in you being banned from the community.

HOW WE ASSESS COMPLAINTS

We categorise complaints, whether they have been made to us or posted in our member communities, in three categories:

Minor – slow replies, small misunderstandings. We'll notify the vendor and give them a chance to respond.

Moderate – proper service failures, or repeated complaints about the same vendor. We'll investigate and may add a warning to their file.

Serious – no-shows, allegations of fraud, major contract breaches. We'll investigate immediately and may suspend their Directory membership while we do.

What happens next

1. We acknowledge your complaint within 24 hours.

2. If it's a public post, we'll comment saying it's under investigation and turn off comments.

3. We notify the vendor by email within 24 hours and invite them to respond.

4. We ask both sides for evidence (you and the vendor have 7 days to supply this).

5. We review everything. For Supplier members, we assess whether they've met the professional standards in the Code of Ethics.

6. We tell both parties our decision within 3 working days of finishing. Investigations usually take up to 14 working days.

Possible outcomes

For Supplier members:

– Complaint not substantiated: complaint closed, and (if posted publicly) post removed

– Minor issue: noted on file, warning given

– Bigger issue: membership suspended until resolved

– Serious breach: removed from Directory, no refund

For non-members: our role ends after we've notified them. We keep a note on file which we'll consider if they ever apply to join the Directory.

We'll tell both parties whether the complaint was upheld, partially upheld, or not upheld, with a summary of why. Specific outcomes about Directory membership stay confidential.

FACEBOOK GROUP

Facebook Group Guidelines – La Lista: Planning Your Italian Wedding 

The Planning Your Italian Wedding Facebook group is intended to be a positive, constructive, and respectful environment for all members. Please read and follow these guidelines carefully when posting in the group. 

Defamation & Legal Claims 

Please note that defamation is illegal in Italy. As such, any complaint that includes allegations of illegal activity—such as fraud, theft, or breach of contract—will be subject to the following policy: 

• Evidence Request: La Lista will request supporting evidence to be submitted within 24 hours of the post being made. 

• La Lista will add a comment to the post explaining it is being investigated and requesting evidence. All comments will be disabled after this. 

• No or Insufficient Evidence: If no evidence or insufficient evidence is provided within 24 hours of the post being published, the post will be permanently removed and the complainant sent feedback. 

Public Nature of the Group 

This group is on the public space of Facebook. Anything you post here can be seen, shared, or referenced by other members - including La Lista. Please be fully aware of this when posting sensitive or personal information. La Lista does not allow anonymous posts in this Facebook community. All posts must be made under your real profile to maintain trust and transparency. La Lista does not permit the sharing of vendor or venue contracts and quotes within this Facebook community. Posts containing these materials will be removed for legal reasons.

Complaints About Vendors 

If a complaint is made about a vendor who is a member of La Lista’s Directory: 

• The La Lista team will notify the vendor within 24 hours of seeing the complaint. 

• Notification will be made via email, and the vendor will be invited to respond. 

• Please note that the La Lista team monitors this group daily, but not continuously. 

Community Conduct Rules 

We fully support constructive reviews—these are welcomed when shared respectfully. However, we do not allow: 

• Mentions of legal matters, including but not limited to fraud, theft, or abuse. 

• General complaints or vague negativity about a company or client without specific issues being outlined. 

If your post breaks these rules: 

• You will be notified and given 24 hours to edit the post to comply with the guidelines or provide evidence. 

• If no action is taken within that time, the post will be removed. 

Dispute Resolution & Responsibility 

We strongly encourage all couples to try to resolve issues directly with vendors before any further action is taken. 

Please note that: 

• La Lista is not responsible for the performance of vendors or the content of member reviews. 

• Rude or abusive behaviour towards La Lista staff will not be tolerated. If this occurs, we reserve the right to end the conversation immediately. 

We appreciate your cooperation in supporting La Lista’s mission for authenticity and transparency in the Italian wedding industry. If you have questions or wish to discuss a complaint with La Lista please email hello@lalista.com.