Microbusiness complaint procedure

Introduction

Energycentric views complaints as an opportunity to learn and improve for the future, as well as a chance to provide resolution to the organisation that has made the complaint.

What is a microbusiness:

Microbusinesses, defined as businesses that have a total of nine or fewer employees and a turnover or balance sheet total of less than €2 million.

A complaint is defined as:

An expression of dissatisfaction that requires a response.

Our policy is:

  • To provide a fair complaints procedure which is clear and easy to use for anyone wishing to make a complaint.
  • To publicise the existence of our complaints procedure so that people know how to contact us to make a complaint.
  • To ensure everyone at Energycentric knows what to do if a complaint is received.
  • To ensure all complaints are acknowledged promptly and investigated fairly and according to specified timescales.
  • To ensure that complaints are, wherever possible, resolved and that relationships are repaired.
  • To offer reasonable redress to complainants whose complaints are found on investigation to have merit, either in part or in whole.
  • To gather information which helps us to improve what we do.

Aims and objectives of the customer complaints procedure

To ensure that:

  • customer complaints are dealt with promptly, efficiently, courteously, and systematically.
  • customer complaints are treated confidentially and fairly.
  • customers are kept informed of the progress and outcome of their complaints.

Raising a complaint:

Complaints should be made in writing to:

  • Complaints@energycentric.co.uk
  • Energycentric, Stolt Nielsen House, 2nd Floor, 1- 5 Oldchurch Road, RM7 0BQ

Or

  • By phone 01708 765 555

Complaints received by telephone or in person need to be recorded. The person who receives a phone or in person complaint should:

Write down the facts of the complaint

  • Take the complainant’s name, address, and telephone number
  • Wherever possible, ask the complainant to send a written account by post or by email so that the complaint is recorded in the complainant’s own words

Procedure:

Stage One

In many cases, a complaint is best resolved by the person responsible for the issue being complained about. If the complaint has been received by that person, they may be able to resolve it swiftly and should do so if it is possible and appropriate for them to do so. Whether or not the complaint has been resolved, the complaint information should be passed to the person’s responsible team manager immediately.

On receiving the complaint, the Manager records it in the complaints Logbook. If it has not already been resolved, they will investigate it and take any appropriate action. If the complaint relates to a specific person, they should be informed and given a fair opportunity to respond.

Complaints should be acknowledged by the person handling the complaint within five working days. The acknowledgement should say who is dealing with the complaint and when the person complaining can expect a reply. Ideally complainants should receive a definitive reply within a month. If this is not possible because for example, an investigation has not been fully completed, a progress report should be sent with an indication of when a full reply will be given.

Whether the complaint is justified or not, the reply to the complainant should describe:

  • the action taken to investigate the complaint;
  • the conclusions from the investigation;
  • any action taken as a result of the complaint; and
  • any further action deemed necessary but yet to be taken.

Stage 2 – Manager investigation

If the complainant feels that the problem has not been satisfactorily resolved at Stage One, they can request that the complaint is escalated to the relevant team manager.

The Manager should provide detail of the complaint, investigation and action taken to the General Manager as soon as a complaint reaches stage 2 of this procedure.

Stage 3 – Ombudsman consideration

If a complainant is still unhappy with the way the complaint has been dealt with, they can contact the Energy Brokers Ombudsman Services, please visit ombudsman-services.org. This can be done if the complaint has not been resolved within 8 weeks of the complaint being raised, or if a deadlock or final letter has been issued.

The OS is an impartial organisation, and as part of our membership to the scheme, we pay the fees that makes the Ombudsman services free top our customers.

Ombudsman contact detail:

Post: Ombudsman Services: Energy, P.O. Box 966, Warrington, WA4 9DF

Phone: 0330 440 1624

Email: enquiry@ombudsman-services.org

What can you expect from our complaint’s procedure?

We will:

  • Value customer complaints.
  • Record complaints effectively.
  • Acknowledge complaints within 5 working days if a full response cannot be given straightaway.
  • Respond within 15 working days, although complex complaints may take longer.
  • Keep the customer informed about progress where we are not able to respond to the issue within 15 working days.
  • Comply with the Data Protection Act and the General Data Protection Regulation and treat all information given in the strictest confidence.
  • Use information from complaints to improve our services.

When is a complaint not covered by the complaints procedure?

  • Complaints made against a direct supplier. However, we can manage the complaint with the supplier on your behalf.
  • Complaints that are made regarding matters that are the subject of legal proceedings.
  • Complaints made anonymously, although issues of serious concern will be investigated.
  • Complaints about the conduct of a member. These are dealt with under a separate procedure

Unreasonable complainant behaviour

We are committed to dealing with all complaints fairly and impartially, and to making our complaints procedure as accessible as possible, but we must safeguard that procedure and our staff against a complainant’s unreasonable behaviour.

Energycentric will not tolerate deceitful, abusive, offensive, threatening, or other forms of unacceptable behaviour from complainants. In the event that such behaviour occurs, we will take proportionate action to protect the wellbeing of our staff and the integrity of our processes.

Remedies for complaints

In determining a suitable remedy in circumstances where Energycentric is at fault, we will take account of:

  • The outcome the complainant wants to achieve by complaining.
  • What has gone wrong.
  • Whether it is possible to take action to put the person affected back in the position they would have been in if nothing had gone wrong.
  • Whether there is an actual quantifiable financial loss.
  • Whether the actions or inactions of the complainant or a third party contributed to the circumstances giving rise to the complaint.
  • Whether there is a more appropriate form of remedy than a cash payment.