Posted on 23 August 2024
We’re proud that we give our customers a voice. Last financial year, we successfully responded to 4,514 complaints.
It’s really important that our service is open and accessible for all our customers, so that you can get the support your need. But what is a complaint and what isn’t?
If you have to contact us multiple times about a single issue, or if you are unhappy with what still hasn’t been fixed, or you remain unhappy with our approach, this should be raised as a complaint.
Sometimes you might let us know that something has gone wrong, but it’s the first time that that this has been brought to our attention. When this happens, this will be addressed as a ‘service request’ with the relevant operational team. For example, you may want to ‘complain’ about a missed appointment, but really this is a service request for a new appointment, rather than a complaint.
If we handle the service request well, and to your satisfaction, we won’t handle it as a complaint. If we handle it badly, don’t fix it properly, or fail to communicate with you following your concern being raised with us, this could easily become a formal complaint.
When is a complaint not a complaint
We receive 30 – 50 complaint submissions on average each week that aren’t classified as complaints. These are referred to as ‘service requests’.
Here’s an example of a service request:
- You call us to complain about a noisy neighbour. We’ll manage this as a service request by supporting you to report this as antisocial behaviour (ASB) and guide you on the appropriate steps to address the issue. We’ll raise this as an ASB enquiry. This will not be recorded or managed as a complaint.
When does it become a complaint?
It becomes a complaint when we’re not managing the case well, or we’ve failed to keep in contact with you, despite reports being made about antisocial behaviour.
Here are other examples of service requests (so not complaints):
- The amount of rent or service charge increase will not be treated as a complaint (unless there is evidence of service failure, like an error, delay or poor communication) – it will be raised as a service charge enquiry.
- A complaint about the behaviour of another customer, such as a neighbour dispute (this would be dealt with under our Housing Management policies) will be raised as an ASB enquiry.
Our most common complaints are:
- Poor communication – if we don’t keep you updated and you don’t know what is happening.
- Delays in completing repairs.
- Not keeping to the promises we make.
We’re continuing to invest in our complaints service. Learning from complaints, listening to your feedback and investing in our teams is part of the way we’re doing that.