Introduction
Customer Complaints Policy-contents
1. Introduction
2. Our Customers
3. Making a Suggestion
4. Complaints
5. Complaints procedure
6. Responding to complaints
7. Learning from complaints
8. Confidentiality
9. Time Limits
10. Further Steps
1. Introduction
The company is committed to delivering excellent customer service. Listening to our customers and learning from customer feedback enables the company to improve its services and meet the needs of customers more effectively. We want to make it as easy as possible for customers to let us know their views, including how to make a complaint.
This policy sets out how customers can make a complaint about company services, and how we will respond to and learn from complaints received.
2. Our Customers
This policy applies to any customer of the company, or a person or body acting on behalf of the customer. A customer of the company is anyone who:
• Accesses, uses or receives company services
• Is affected by any company policy or action
• Contacts the company to seek information
3. Making a suggestion
Often people feel more comfortable about suggesting improvements rather than complaining formally. Anyone receiving services, and their friends/ family, may make a suggestion.
First you should speak to the Manager or their Deputy.
Comments or suggestion boxes are available if you would rather make your suggestion that way.
If the suggestion is something that Renewable Green Homes as a company needs to consider you can send it to:
Manager Renewable Green Homes Titan House Titan Rd Cardiff CF24 5BS Office: +44 (0) 333 678 9446
4. Complaints Definition of a complaint
A complaint is any expression of dissatisfaction, justified or not, about the company’s actions, standards and quality of service.
A complaint could include any of the following concerns:
• We delay or fail to deliver a service
• We provide a poor quality service
• A member of staff’s attitude or competence causes concern
• We fail to meet our statutory responsibilities
A complaint is not:
• A first request for service
• A query about service provision
• A query about progress of a specific issue
• A suggestion for service improvement or enhancement
Exclusions to the customer complaints policy
The company and its partners are involved in a broad and varied range of activities.
The customer complaints policy does not apply under certain circumstances or conditions including:
• Complaints relating to employment issues or disciplinary and grievance procedures- which are dealt with through the company’s Human Resources policies and procedures
• Matters that are already subject to legal proceedings
• Issues that have arisen and are being handled through the companies ‘Whistleblowers’ scheme
5. Complaints procedure
Customers may make a complaint about the company online, by telephone or in person. See Appendix 1 for ways to contact the company.
Initial Contact
Wherever possible we aim to resolve complaints at the point of service delivery and as quickly as possible.
We encourage customers in the first instance to contact the manager of the department they wish to complain about. Managers will do all they can to put things right and resolve the issue during the initial contact.
Escalated Complaints – The 2-Stage Process
If it is not possible to resolve a customer’s complaint during initial contact, the complaint will be investigated through the company’s escalation procedure.
Stage 1
• We will acknowledge escalated customer complaints within 2 working days
• In all instances complaints will be resolved within 7 days
Actions can include but are not limited to:
• Always email opt out and request the record be removed
• Always confirm on request which affiliate supplied the data and request the source of the data, ideally receiving an IP address
• Confirm opt out and record removal to third party suppliers
• Respond to our client by telephone confirming the record has been removed and respond to our client in writing confirming the record has been removed
TPS Complaints
• TPS Complaints are received by email and through the post
• TPS allow 14 days for a response
• In all instances complaints will be resolved within 7 days, in most instances will be resolved within 48 hours
• Always email opt out and request the record be removed
• Always email Call Centre Manager and request the record be removed
• Always confirm which affiliate supplied the data and request the source of the data, ideally receiving an IP address
• Both fax and post TPS with a response
• Email complaints go onto the TPS website.
Stage 2
If the customer is not satisfied with the stage 1 response, they may ask for the complaint to be reconsidered – within 1 calendar month of the stage 1 response.
At Stage 2 a senior manager (or a member of staff nominated by the senior manager) will investigate the complaint – re-examining the complaint and stage 1 response; a response will be sent to the complainant in the senior manager’s name within 20 working days.
How to appeal against the outcome of a complaint
Where a complaint has progressed through both stages of the company’s complaints procedure and the customer is still not satisfied, they may appeal (See Appendix 1 for contact details).
6. Responding to Complaints
On receipt of a complaint we will:
• Ensure is recorded on the company’s system for tracking complaints
• Ensure it is forwarded to the appropriate manager for action
At each stage we will respond to complaints or send a holding letter to the customer in line with the timescales indicated in the 2-stage procedure.
We will at all times deal with customer complaints courteously, openly and fairly.
Complaints upheld
Where we have made a mistake or failed to provide the expected standard or quality service, we will acknowledge and apologise for this. We will also set out actions we will take to put things right and improve our services. This could include:
• Changing how we deliver our services
• Reviewing and amending information about our services • Reviewing company policies or procedures
• Providing appropriate staff training and guidance
Complaints – not upheld
Where we have investigated and do not up hold the complaint, we will:
• Explain the reason for our decision clearly
•Provide any relevant evidence to support the decision
• Inform customers how to progress their complaint if they remain dissatisfied
7. Learn from your complaints
We collect and review feedback from our customers, and use this information to drive service improvement.
All customer complaints are recorded on the company’s tracking system. Data about complaints is collated and shared across the company to identify performance trends and review how we handle and respond to customer feedback. This includes:
• How well we meet our target response times
• How effective we are in capturing complaints across the company
• How customers prefer to contact us
Customer complaints are regularly reviewed across the company to identify how we can improve our services. This includes:
• Managers making operational improvements in response to specific complaints
• Regular review of upheld complaints at directorate performance reviews to identify issues that need addressing
• Development of action plans to improve services, based on specific issues or trends in complaints
The company will publish information about complaints – to inform customers about how we handle complaints and show how we make changes as a result of customer feedback.
The company will hold monthly minute complaints committee meetings.
8. Confidentiality
Any personal data provided to the company will be managed in line with the requirements of the Data Protection Act 1998. The company will use this information to respond to the customer and improve services. Personal data will be kept anonymous in producing and sharing information about complaints with other services and partners.
9. Time limits
You should complain as soon as you can after the date on which the event occurred or came to your notice. If you complain more than twelve months later, we may not be able to investigate properly. But we shall also consider whether you had good reason for not making the complaint sooner and whether, despite the delay, it is still possible to investigate the complaint effectively and fairly.
10. Further Steps
At any stage during the process, if you are not happy with the way the service is dealing with your complaint you can contact the Manager at:
Manager
Renewable Green Homes
Unit R04
Titan House, Titan Rd
Cardiff
CF24 5EL
Office: +44 (0) 333 678 9446
Once we have dealt with your complaint, if you are not happy with the outcome you can refer your complaint to the Energy Assessor Accreditation Scheme.
You can contact the Energy Assessor Accreditation Scheme at:
Tel: 0300 123 1234
Website: www.accreditationscheme.co.uk
NB: The scheme will not normally investigate a complaint until the provider has had an opportunity to respond and resolve matters.
*We can provide this policy in other languages or in other formats on request
Appendix 1 – Contact information
How to contact the company
Via email
info@renewablegreenhomes.com
Via company website
www.renewablegreenhomes.com
By telephoning
0333 678 9446
Regulatory Bodies:
Information Commissioners Office
Web https://ico.org.uk/
By Telephone 0303 123 1113
Contact the Legal Ombudsman
cmc@legalombudsmanservice.org.uk
Telephone 0300 555 0333
Minicom 0300 555 1777
Monday to Friday, 8.30am to 5.30pm
Ofcom
Telephone 0300 123 3333
Monday to Friday 9.00am t0 5.00pm
