Why do we offer a complaints procedure?

We offer a complaints procedure publicly to provide a clear line of communication between our clients and our business which helps us understand where we can improve on our services and marketing and to ensure we’re always improving our processes.

Any correspondence sent or forwarded to our complaints@avellite.co.uk mailbox is officially treated as a complaint; and is triaged into one of two categories:

Low Severity - any grievance or issue that is received that is not the result of a service or interactions with a current client or customer; or any suggestion made by any party related to marketing, communications, websites, products, or otherwise that.

High severity - any grievance or issue that is received that is the result of a service or interactions with a current client or customer.

We treat as a complaint any expression of dissatisfaction for which requires a response. We intently read any complaints, investigate, and find out how it can be prevented in the future, and moreover learn from them and offer any justifiable remediation.

For guidance, our complaints procedure typically covers the following items or topics:

The standard of service we provide.
The behaviour of our staff.
Any action, lack of action, or omission by staff affecting an individual or group.

However, in most cases our complaints policy does not cover:

Matters that have already been fully investigated through this complaint’s procedure.
Any complains about any other organisation not directly related to us.
Any complaints containing foul language, racism, sexism, or discrimination of any kind. Furthermore, any such correspondence may be reported to the necessary authorities.

How do I Submit a Complaint?

If you would like to submit a complaint, you can do so via email to complaints@avellite.co.uk or post to:

12 Oak Industrial Park

Chelmsford Road

Dunmow

Essex

CM6 1XN

We do not accept complaints over the phone.

To ensure we can investigate your complaint as best we can, it’s important we identify the following:

Who you are, or whom you are representing.
What has led you to write a complaint.
If applicable, who or what was involved in the incident(s).
When the incident took place.
What we can do to improve.

Is My Complaint Confidential?

All complaints submitted to us through the proper channels are processed confidentially and in accordance with the Date Protection Act 1998. For more information on data retention, please see our Privacy Notice.

What are our complaints Standards?

Although each complaint may be different, we treat each complaint with equal fairness and due care and attention. We pride ourselves in each case to:

Treat your complaint seriously and investigate it properly to understand where we may have gone wrong.
If required, commit further investigation, and put in procedural, training, or service changes to try to ensure this event does not repeat.
Treat the complainant with respect and courtesy.
Assign the complaint to someone suited to deal with it in the most appropriate way; given timescales and staffing.
Deal with the complaint promptly, but not in a way that rushes its review or undermines its importance.

High Severity

We will acknowledge a complaint within 2 working days of its receipt if by email, and by post within 5 working days.
We will send the complainant a full response within 14 working days after we have undertaken our internal checks, reviews, and processing.
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Low Severity

We will acknowledge a complaint within 7 working days of its receipt if by email, and by post within 14 working days.
We will send the complainant a full response, if required, within 30 working days after we have undertaken our internal checks, reviews, and processing.
If we foresee a delay in sending our full response that would cause it to be sent after the 14-working day period, we will respond with an interim update with our estimated time of arrival. At this time, we may invite you to send more information to aid our enquiry.

We will submit an annual report which details the number of complaints received, the number successfully processed and responded to within 7, 14, 20, and 60 days; and the percentage of complaints upheld.

What are the forms of remedy?

After we have conducted our review, we will respond to you (within the allotted 20 days – either with a final response (result), or a request for more time). It may be the case that a simple apology is in order; however, in some instances other forms of remedy may take place; which can include:

A sincere and meaningful apology (explaining what happened and or what went wrong) - an apology is not an acceptance of liability under Section 2 of the Compensation Act 2006.
Remedial action, which may include reviewing or changing a decision on the service given to an individual complainant.

Service desired by complainant (immediately, if appropriate)
Putting things right (for example change of procedures to prevent future difficulties of a similar kind, either for the complainant or others)
Training or supervising staff.
Financial compensation, discounting of services, or a performance-based remedy.

It may be noted that not all complaints will have a remedy equivalent to that the complainant may have requested / expected. However, this does not mean we haven’t learnt from any mistakes, and we will always apologise for a problem caused by us.

How is complaints data stored?

Our complaints are kept in accordance with the Date Protection Act 1998; this is usually in the form of a condensed version of our correspondence, and an internal comment based on what the result of the complaint was and the process by which it was acquired.

What happens if I'm not satisfied with the response of a complaint?

If you are dissatisfied with our final response from a complaint you have submitted. We will, if possible, offer you alternative methods of remediation, and a conversation with someone so we can discuss the complaint in a more personable method.

If we cannot offer any further help, we will direct you to trading standards to further your enquiry.