Complaints and compliments
Between April and November 2021:
We received
258
Stage 1 complaints from customers. During the same period, we closed 211 complaints with an average handling time of 11.3 days.
We received
189
compliments from customers.
Complaints
This year has seen an increase in customer complaints from 147 in 2020/21. The main reasons for this increase are an unfortunate result of the covid-19 impact on our repairs service; colleagues and customers required to self-isolate, delays in supply and delivery chains and a backlog of repairs jobs post-lockdown. Our new, more accessible complaints policy means we are accepting more complaints in line with regulatory requirements.
Four Housing Ombudsman cases were managed this year between April and November 2021. Two cases are still live with the service and two were concluded; one identified maladministration with the customer awarded compensation. Another case was found to have been dealt with according to our policy and no maladministration was found.
We are now capturing complaints data and working with the Housing Ombudsman service to support resolutions for our customers. We always aim to resolve customer issues at Stage 1.
Your feedback is invaluable in helping us learn from our mistakes and improve the services we provide to our customers.
We have strived to improve our complaints process as we implemented our new Customer Feedback Policy in May, developed in consultation with our customers.
A case review resolution
We recently held a case review for a customer who initially reported a small plastering job and damp. Following further investigation, our customer feedback team and Director of Repairs made several recommendations to the repairs teams involved in the case, including:
- Providing a named contact for the customer to liaise with
- Agreeing a plan to effectively communicate updates to the customer
- Arranging joint inspections with contractors to agree the scope of work required, and
- Providing the customer with clear information about the planned process and timescales, and ensuring all floors and furnishings are fully protected prior to repairs work commencing.
Our plans to improve in the coming year
We recognise there is more to do to improve our performance levels. These are some of things we plan to do to improve over the next 12 months:
- We’re recruiting to a Customer Complaints Group to help us introduce case reviews as part of our ‘review and learn’ process
- We want to improve our written communications to you, and so we have formed internal project groups to progress recommendations to tailor to our customers’ specific circumstances. One such group for example will focus on a more efficient process of booking multiple repairs while another focuses on an improved resolution to damp and mould issues in your home.
Compliments
In March 2021, we started reporting on customer compliments with 189 customers providing us with positive feedback this financial year.
“I would just like to say a huge thank you to Great Places, especially Jill. The whole process from bidding to being in my home for 2 weeks was pleasant and friendly. Thank you so much for my forever home.”
“I would like to thank Fran for making the final staircasing process run so smoothly and for being approachable and helpful in starting the process off.”
“I felt like he listened very well and was very considerate. When I call some companies, people can be abrupt but he took the time to listen and fully explain my issue. I felt that he genuinely cared, was a real credit to the organisation and that more people should be like him!”