All comments from customers including complaints are essential in maintaining and improving the services offered by Anchor Staying Put. Whilst the organisation prides itself on delivering a first class service to everyone, occasionally, things can go wrong and only by hearing about them can we take them on board and ensure that the appropriate remedial action is taken.

Anchor Staying Put has a formal complaints procedure which is described in full in the 'About our service' leaflet.  Customers can make a complaint either by filling out the form within this leaflet, submitting a letter, or by telephone. All customer complaints are recorded and responded to quickly and effectively. There are three stages to the complaints procedure and we aim to resolve the majority of complaints successfully at stage one.

Stage 1

Contact the Agency Manager at the office you have been dealing with. Acknowledgement of the complaint will be received within one week. Every effort will be made to investigate and resolve the complaint within two weeks.

Stage 2

If the customer is not satisfied with the response to stage one, a request can be made in writing or by telephone to go to stage two, whereby a senior manger will be contacted. You may contact the senior manager yourself through the address below or ask the Agency manager to do so on your behalf. Every effort will be made to investigate and resolve the complaint within two weeks.

Complaints Administrator, Anchor Staying Put,
Burnbank House, Balliol Business Park,
Benton Lane, Longbenton,
Newcastle upon Tyne, NE12 8EW.
Telephone: 0191 270 6069

Stage 3

If the complaint remains unresolved at stage two, two alternatives can be offered at stage three. The complaint may be looked at by the Head of Anchor Staying Put, or an independent panel made up of Anchor Staying Put Advisory Group members. In all circumstances a written report will be delivered within one week.

Our Performance

Agencies receive many compliments about the services they deliver but Anchor Staying Put also records the number of complaints received so that we can analyse trends and work to reduce issues in the future.

The table below provides a comparison of the complaints received over the last two years.

How we deal with your complaints

Anchor Staying Put customers who have made a formal complaint about the service they received are sent a survey that explores their satisfaction around how their complaint has been dealt with. The feedback we get helps us to review the way we deal with complaints to make sure we are effective and listen to you to improve the service we deliver.

A review of the returned surveys since the start of the year shows the following: -

44% Respondents complained by phone

22% Respondents complained by letter

22% Respondents complained by phone and letter

11% Respondents complained in person

The areas of complaint focused around

11% Contractors

33% Standard of work by contractors

22% Length of time

22% Length of time and Anchor Staying Put procedures

20% No response or indicated complaint did not fit criteria

38% of Respondents indicated that they received a copy of the procedure, 45% felt staff explained the procedure before the service started. Only 33% felt they understood the procedure.

78% felt Staying Put responded promptly to the complaint

55% felt their complaint was taken seriously

One respondent indicated ãnot at first then the TO was a Godsendä

55% felt they were dealt with fairly - 22% did not respond

55% felt it was resolved to their satisfaction, however 33% did not respond to that question

45% of respondents indicated their complaint went to stage 2.

66% would consider using Staying Put again

The section that offers an opportunity to give open responses was used on one occasion where the customer felt the complaint had reappeared. This was referred back to the Agency to address.

One respondent indicated that it wasn't a complaint as the issue was dealt with the next morning. Another said, ãjust get the people to do the work rightä, another ãlisten to what the house owner is telling youä. Finally ã keep the client better informed, waiting isn't such a problem if you know whyä.

The lessons we have learnt

From the results of the survey above and reviewing the types of complaints that Staying Put has received the following are areas we need to improve;

• Better inform customers about the ability to complain using e-mail via this web site
• Improve the way we monitor the contractors
• Improve the procedure to make sure more people understand it

What we will do

We are in the process of reviewing our complaints procedure to make sure it is clear and easy to understand. This will also be discussed with the National User Group in September 2006 to ensure the revised process is effective and easy to follow before publishing. A chart showing Anchor Staying Puts complaints procedure has been designed and will be shown to customers for comment at the next National User Group to ensure that it is clear and explains the complaint process thoroughly. This chart will then be displayed in offices.

We have implemented an improved Stage 2 process to ensure complaints are dealt with effectively.

One example is around complaints of a technical nature. A Senior Technical Officer is nominated to investigate and report back to the Complaints Administrator with a clear action plan of how the complaint can be resolved.

We will let people know there is an opportunity to complain by e-mail through Agency newsletters and literature. Staff will inform customers of this on the first visit. Managers will check that ÎAbout our service' is given to all new customers and the complaints process, which is included in it, is explained.

All staff will be given further training around dealing with complaints during September and October. The training will aim to ensure that staff deal promptly with complaints and keep customers informed. In addition each Agency will review their complaints and continue to make sure services are improved as a result of the feedback.

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