Complaints Procedure
Introduction
Argyll & Bute Care & Repair (ABCR) aims to provide a first class service, which is customer focused. As in all organisations, however, difficulties can occur from time to time which can disrupt our services.
Complaints by members of the public can arise from the way a particular service was or was not delivered. The following information explains how you should make a complaint and what action we will take.
Anyone who receives or requests a service from ABCR may use the complaints procedure.
The procedure is also open to people who may be acting on your behalf, such as a Councillor, Member of Parliament, advice agency or solicitor (but, as you will see later, we do encourage you to try to sort your complaint out with us first).
If you belong to a group or residents’ association and would prefer to ask them to help you complain we will be happy for them to contact us on your behalf.
You can complain regarding any aspect of our service about which you are unhappy, for example:
-
If a repair has not been carried out properly.
-
If you have not received information for which you have asked
-
If you feel that a member of our staff, our Board of Management (Board) or a Contractor has not behaved reasonably.
-
If you feel you have been unfairly discriminated against.
Stage One
Complain in person, by telephone or in writing to the appropriate Officer. He or she will let you know how long it should take for the problem to be sorted out, and hopefully a solution reached.
We expect that the majority of complaints will be resolved at this stage; however, if you are not satisfied with the Officer’s response, you should proceed to stage two.
Stage Two – the formal complaints procedure
If you are unhappy with the outcome at stage one or have a complaint against a member of staff you should write to the Manager.
When you make a complaint, it is really important for you to let us know exactly what the problem is, and how you would like to see it resolved. We would encourage you to do this in writing wherever possible, but if this is not easy you can complain by telephone or in person.
If you make a complaint by telephone or in person, the member of staff who notes the complaint will check with you that they have taken a correct record. In this way everyone is clear on what the complaint is about.
Whether you have complained in writing, by telephone or in person, you will be acknowledged within 3 working days by ABCR informing you that your complaint is receiving attention.
Once investigations have been completed we will write to you again to advise you of the outcome. Do please remember that on some occasions delays may arise which are outwith our control.
If you are not satisfied with the outcome of the Manager’s investigations you should proceed to stage three.
Stage Three – the appeals procedure.
If you do not feel that staff have resolved your complaint satisfactorily, or if you wish to complain about the Manager you may appeal to the Board. The Chair of the Board may be contacted through the ABCR office in Oban.
Written complaints sent to the Chair of the Board will be acknowledged within three working days of receipt of your letter.
In addition to your written complaint you may meet with up to three members of the Board. This would normally be the Chair of the Board and two others. You may, if you wish, bring a friend or adviser (e.g. representative of the Citizens Advice Bureau) to this meeting.
The Chair of the Board will inform you of the outcome of this meeting within five working days.
Who will know about my complaint?
We will, as far as possible, respect the confidentiality of your complaint. However, key members of staff and the Chair of the Board will normally be made aware of the name of the complainant.
If we are particularly asked not to divulge the identity of the complainant we shall try to respect this request, however, this may mean that we will be unable to fully investigate the complaint.
It will not be possible for us to deal with anonymous complaints.
How do we record and monitor complaints?
Complaints can help us as well as clients. All formal complaints will be recorded and reported to the Manager who will advise the Board of changes or improvements we may be making as a result of complaints received.
Improving our service to you
Complaints are not the only way of telling us what you think of the service we provide. We always welcome suggestions on how we can improve, so if you have any ideas on this, please let us know.