Wellhouse HA is committed to providing high-quality customer services.
We value complaints and use information from them to help us improve our services.
If something goes wrong or you are dissatisfied with our services, please tell us. This section
describes our complaints procedure and how to make a complaint. It also tells you about our
service standards and what you can expect from us.
What is a complaint?
We regard a complaint as any expression of dissatisfaction about our action or lack of action, or about the standard of service provided by us or on our behalf.
What can I complain about?
You can complain about things like:
- delays in responding to your enquiries and requests
- failure to provide a service
- our standard of service
- dissatisfaction with our policy
- treatment by or attitude of a member of staff
- our failure to follow proper procedure.
Your complaint may involve more than one of our services or be about someone working
on our behalf.
What can’t I complain about?
There are some things we can’t deal with through our complaints procedure.
These include:
- a routine first-time request for a service, for example reporting a problem that need to be repaired or initial action on anti-social behavior
- requests for compensation
- our policies and procedures that have a separate right of appeal, for example, if you are dissatisfied with the level of priority you have been given when applying for a house, you may have the right to appeal against the decision
- issues that are in court or have already been heard by a court or a tribunal
- an attempt to reopen a previously concluded complaint or to have a complaint reconsidered where we have already given our final decision following a stage 2 investigation. If you are still not satisfied, you can ask the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman for an independent review of the complaint.
- If other procedures or rights of appeal can help you resolve your concerns we will give information and advice to help you.
Who can complain?
Anyone can make a complaint to us, including the representative of someone who is dissatisfied with our service.
How do I complain?
You can complain in person at our office, by phone, in writing, email or by using our complaints form.
It is easier for us to resolve complaints if you make them quickly and directly to the service concerned. So please talk to a member of our staff at the service you are complaining about.
Then they can try to resolve any problems on the spot.
When complaining, tell us:
- your full name and address
- as much as you can about the complaint
- what has gone wrong
- how you want us to resolve the matter
How long do I have to make a complaint?
Normally, you must make your complaint within six months of:
- the event you want to complain about, or
- finding out that you have a reason to complain, but no longer than 12 months after the event itself.
In exceptional circumstances, we may be able to accept a complaint after the time limit.
If you feel that the time limit should not apply to your complaint, please tell us why.
What happens when I have complained?
We will always tell you who is dealing with your complaint. Our complaints procedure has two stages:
Stage one: frontline resolution
We aim to resolve complaints quickly and close to where we provided the service.
This could mean an on-the-spot apology and explanation if something has clearly gone wrong, and immediate action to resolve the problem.
We will give you our decision at stage 1 in five working days or less, unless there are exceptional circumstances.
If we can’t resolve your complaint at this stage, we will explain why. If you are still dissatisfied you can ask for your complaint to be investigated further through stage 2. You may choose to do this immediately or sometime after you get our initial response. We can help you with making this request.
Stage two: investigation
Stage 2 deals with two types of complaint: those that have not been resolved at stage 1 and those that are complex and require detailed investigation.
When using stage 2 we will:
- acknowledge receipt of your complaint within three working days
- where appropriate, discuss your complaint with you to understand why you remain dissatisfied and what outcome you are looking for
- give you a full response to the complaint as soon as possible and within 20 working days
If our investigation will take longer than 20 working days, we will tell you. We will agree revised time limits with you and keep you updated on progress.
What if I’m still dissatisfied?
After we have fully investigated, if you are still dissatisfied with our decision or the way we dealt with your complaint, you can ask the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman (SPSO) to look at it.
The SPSO cannot normally look at:
- a complaint that has not completed our complaints procedure (so please make sureit has done so before contacting the SPSO)
- events that happened, or that you became aware of, more than a year ago
- a matter that has been or is being considered in court
You can contact the SPSO:
In person:
SPSO
Bridgeside House
99 McDonald Road
Edinburgh
EH7 4NS
By post:
Freepost SPSO
Freephone 0800 377 7330
Online contact www.spso.org.uk/contact-us
Website www.spso.org.uk
Fax 0800 377 7331