We value feedback from people and use it to achieve continuous improvement, become more customer-focused as well as be more open and accountable.
In this Feedback notice the terms “we”, “our” and “us” means St. George’s Holiday. This notice sets out how we deal with feedback and complaints.
“Customer” means a company or person that secures services from St. George’s Holiday.
We are committed to providing a high level of service to our customers. If customers do not receive satisfaction from us, we encourage them to give feedback. This will help us to improve our standards. A complaint is any expression of dissatisfaction with our service which calls for a response.
Customers can expect to be treated with respect at all times. We hope customers will also treat our staff in the same way. We will not tolerate threatening, abusive or unreasonable behaviour by customers.
Our Complaints Policy does not cover comments about our policies or policy decisions, matters that have already been fully investigated through this complaints procedure, or complaints made by St. George’s Holiday staff.
Complaints procedure
If a customer has a complaint, they should contact our Chairman. The Chairman will attempt to resolve the complaint informally.
If the customer is not satisfied, they should make a formal complaint by writing to our Chairman via email (hello@stgeorgesholiday.com).
How we respond to complaints
1. We will send a letter/email acknowledging the complaint and asking the customer to confirm or explain the details. We will also let the customer know the name of the person who will be dealing with their complaint. The customer can expect to receive our letter within 2-5 days of us receiving the complaint.
2. We will record the complaint in our central register on the day of receipt.
3. We will then start to investigate the complaint. This will normally involve the following steps;
- We may ask the staff who dealt with the customer to reply to the complaint; and
- We will then examine the staff reply and the information included in it. If necessary, we may ask the customer to speak to our staff.
4. Our Chairman will then invite the customer to a meeting (either in person or online) to discuss and hopefully resolve the complaint. We will do this within 5 days of the end of our investigation.
5. Within 2 days of the meeting, we will write to the customer to confirm what took place and any solutions that were agreed.
If the customer does not want a meeting or it is not possible, we will send the customer a detailed reply about the complaint. This will include suggestions for resolving the matter. We will do this within 5 days of completing our investigation.
If we have to change any of the timescales above, we will let you know and explain why. In any event, we will comply with any statutory procedures that may relate to the customer complaint.
Confidentiality
All complaints received will be dealt with confidentially and in accordance with the requirements of the General Data Protection Regulation, subject to the need to disclose information as required by statutory authorities, and/or as a result of legal obligations.
Complaint details, outcomes and actions taken are recorded by us and used for service improvement. We record all complaints we receive and collate data from them to help us understand what types of problems are most prevalent, and how well we are doing to resolve them.
Remedies
When we get things wrong we will act to:
- accept responsibility and apologise;
- explain what went wrong and why;
- put things right by making any changes required; and
- learn lessons from mistakes and change policies and practices where proportionate and sensible to do so.
The action we take to put matters right in response to a complaint can include any combination of remedies. The general principle we follow is that customers should, so far as possible, be put in the position they would have been in, had things not gone wrong.
The remedy applied needs to be proportionate and appropriate to the failure in service, and take into account what redress customers seek when they complain. An apology is generally the most appropriate action, but other action may also be necessary in some circumstances.
Vexatious and repetitive complaints, and unreasonable or abusive behaviour
Unreasonable or abusive complaint behaviour does happen occasionally. Difficulties in handling such situations can place a strain on time and resources and can be stressful for our staff who have to deal with these complex and challenging issues.
We understand that customers may act out of character in times of distress or due to frustration. We do not view behaviour as unreasonable just because a customer is forceful or determined. However, sometimes the situation between a customer and St. George’s Holiday can escalate and the behaviour of the customer becomes unacceptable, for example becoming abusive, aggressive or threatening.
We sometimes receive complaints which can be deemed ‘vexatious’ or ‘repetitive’. Some of these complaints can be costly to handle, or responding to them may be a disproportionate use of our time. The term ‘vexatious’ refers to activity that “is likely to cause distress or irritation”.
Our staff have the right to undertake their work free from abuse, threats and harassment, or vexatious and repetitive complaints. Such complaints may demand that we restrict or bring to an end communication with the customer.
Chairman
St. George’s Holiday
The Unofficial Bank Holiday
Last updated: 13 April 2019