YOU SAID

WE DID

Length of time to resolve complaints with unclear timely communication throughout the process.

Improved monitoring process to ensure we keep to our promises whilst keeping customers informed on a regular basis.

Length of time to establish when to raise complaints formally and when to ensure the customer is aware of what we can and should do.

Identify if any dissatisfaction needs to be escalated to ensure we don’t cause delays in the formal complaints process.

Continued lack of communication between contractors and Orwell and between Orwell and our customers.

Improved communication both within Orwell and with our contractors, being open, honest, and clear with what Orwell’s responsibilities are.

Offer compensation when it is the right thing to do!

Compensation should be automatically considered for failure or poor service, damaged belongs, additional expenses and stress/inconvenience caused.

YOU SAID

WE DID

Slow response rates and it takes too long to get an appointment.

We are considering changing our current repair timeframes to suit a more diverse range of priorities.

There are too many return visits and it takes too long to resolve issues.

We have consulted with over 4,000 customers with the aim for our operatives to be more flexible and carry out multiple jobs whilst on site.

Not enough investigations on first visit and failures to pinpoint issues quickly.

We request more photographs at the initial point of contact. This will help us understand the severity of the repair and instruct a senior operative to inspect.

Lack of response and complaints outstanding for far too long.

We hired a Complaints Officer and Repairs Administrator to help support our team and resolve complaints quicker. We are also introducing a new compensation policy for 2024. This will help improve our service and deliver a consistant response to our customers.

YOU SAID

WE DID

All points of the complaint are often not addressed. Sometimes there is a lack of empathy shown for distress, cost and inconvenience caused.

We introduced a new process where we audit all responses to ensure all points are being addressed. Staff have also received complaints handling training with empathy around individual circumstances.

Take ownership and chase contractors in a timely manner. Don’t leave this to the customer.

We have increased the resources in our repairs admin team to ensure we have the capacity to monitor jobs closer and highlight issues sooner.

Sometimes we allow complaints to remain outstanding for longer than necessary, this can make them become more complicated than they need to be.

Feedback and guidance have been given on how to conduct a more concise investigation at the initial stage of the complaint. This is so we can ensure there will be no unnecessary delays, especially where it refers to boundaries, roads, trees etc.

Poor timekeeping and no shows with appointments can often exasperated the complaint.

The Customer Insight and Engagement team now have a monthly briefing with the Repairs team to ensure issues like this are identified at an earlier stage. Actions have been put in place to prevent these happening in the future.

YOU SAID

WE DID

Letters didn’t always contain the right level of information and not all points were addressed.

New letter templates introduced for consistency and in line with our complaints code. Dedicated team allocated to respond.

Responses appear to take longer than necessary, albeit the right outcome had been achieved. Information sometimes conflicting.

Change correspondence email from Head of Customer Services to a dedicated complaints email which ensures quicker access and responses.

Communication – Lack of communication between Orwell and 3rd party contractors, highlighting lack of clarity when communicating.

Monthly Feedback shared with departments and Individuals and actions agreed to minimise issues reoccurring

Ownership – It was highlighted that sometimes there were elements of “Passing the Buck “ and all members felt Orwell should “Do what they say they are going to do” as again examples were highlighted where this did not always happen.

This feedback makes up part of the monthly meeting (as above) with the goal of lessons being learned and avoided in the future.

Share wider with our customers what we are doing to make services better and what we have changed from their feedback.

This cascade is the start of this journey, and we will share more of our achievements as we change aspects going forward.