Our Complaints Standard

Our Complaints Standard

Complaints are very important to us. They help us to learn when things go wrong and how to improve our services. If something does go wrong, we will apologise, investigate what happened and work with you to make it right.

We understand that we must improve on how we listen and respond to complaints. It is only through improving how we receive and act on feedback that we will improve customer satisfaction and the overall customer experience.

We have an independent Customer Voice Team who are responsible for investigating and responding to complaints when the answer to the complaint is known. Where actions are required to fully put your situation right, we will provide you with a point of contact until all actions have been fulfilled.

Service Request
Before logging your concern as a complaint, we will consider if the concern is suitable for the complaints process, as there may be other routes available to resolve your concerns promptly and informally. These are recorded as a Service Request and are dealt with by a service area.
If further enquiries are needed to resolve the matter, or if you request it, the concern will be logged as a formal complaint and passed to our Customer Voice Team to investigate.

How to make a complaint

Making a complaint

If you want to make a complaint, tell us as much as you can so we can fully investigate. The issue you are complaining about must have happened in the last 12 months.
Tell us if:

  • we have done something incorrectly
  • we have not done something we said we would do
  • you are not happy with our service or standard

We initially try to solve any problems informally within the department that is responsible. If a complaint needs to be investigated, we will make this a stage one formal complaint.

You can give us feedback by:

  • Emailing us at Feedback@gentoogroup.com
  • Speaking to any colleague either in person, by telephone or email
  • Submitting an online form through our website
  • Contacting us via social media
  • Writing to us at Customer Voice Team, Gentoo Group, Emperor House, Sunderland, SR3 3XR

Claims management companies

These companies may contact you about making a claim against Gentoo. These companies may claim to work for us and may send a surveyor to your home. We are not connected to these companies, and they do not work for us. If you enter into a legal relationship with these companies, you may be at substantial financial risk.

Accessing your home

If you decide to make a disrepair claim, your solicitor may tell you to refuse us access to your home. It is part of your tenancy agreement to allow us or our contractors access to your home to complete repairs or other works. If you stop us from accessing your home, you will breach your tenancy agreement, and we will take legal action. You may need to pay our legal costs.

Stage 1 complaints

  • We will assign the complaint to a Customer Voice Partner
  • The Customer Voice Partner will acknowledge receipt of the complaint within 5 working days from the date the complaint is received
  • The complaint acknowledgment will be confirmed in writing and you will be given a unique complaint reference number
  • To help us define the complaint or if it is unclear, you may be asked what you are unhappy with, the reasons why you are unhappy and what we can do to resolve your complaint
  • We will aim to respond fully within 10 working days of the complaint being acknowledged
  • If the complaint cannot be resolved within 10 working days or less, The Customer Voice Partner will agree a mutually agreed resolution date with you (MARD)
  • The Customer Voice Partner will provide you with a written response and appeal details. You have 15 working days to request an appeal

You can make a complaint through a range of different channels. We also consider our duties under the Equality Act 2010 and will make reasonable adjustments if you need accessible communications or need alternative access requirements. You may access The Housing Ombudsman Service for advice at any point throughout your complaint by visiting www.housing-ombudsman.org.uk

Stage 2 complaints

  • These are escalated from stage 1 if all or part of the complaint is not resolved to your satisfaction
  • These complaints will be dealt with by a Customer Voice Lead or a Senior Manager from the relevant service area 
  • The Customer Voice Lead or Senior Manager will acknowledge receipt of the complaint escalation within 5 working days from the date the complaint appeal is received. The complaint appeal will be acknowledged in writing and you will be given a new unique complaint reference number
    We will aim to respond fully within 20 working days of the complaint appeal being acknowledged 
  • If the complaint cannot be resolved within 20 working days or less, a mutually agreed resolution date (MARD) will be agreed with you
  • The Customer Voice Lead or Senior Manager will provide you with a written response
  • The internal complaints process is now complete, if you remain unhappy with the outcome, you can contact the relevant Ombudsman Service

 

Exclusions

We will consider each complaint on its own merits. However there are some exclusions to our complaints procedure, for example:

  • the complaint issue occurred over 12 months ago
  • legal proceedings have started - this is defined as details of the claim, such as the Claim Form and Particulars of Claim, having been filed at court
  • matters that have previously been considered under the complaints policy
  • issues such as anti-social behaviour, which is not considered a complaint but would be dealt with in line with our anti-social behaviour procedure