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Introduction |
The Ombudsman has always
been an advocate for a positive complaint handling
culture of taking complaints as a management tool in
achieving higher service standards and improvements in
public administration. It was with the vision of
inculcating this positive complaint handling culture
that The Ombudsman introduced the Internal Complaint
Handling (INCH) Programme in 1996 to afford an
opportunity for organisations to reflect on the service
environment and make improvements and adjustments where
due. This positive complaint handling culture forms the
foundation upon which effective and professional
complaint handling infrastructures could be built to
better serve the community.
The purposes of this handbook are - |
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To inculcate a positive
complaint handling culture among organisations. |
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To promote professionalism in
the handling of complaints by organisations. |
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To serve as a guide to
organisations, including those not under The Ombudsman's
jurisdiction, which are planning or in the process of
setting up or reviewing their internal complaint
handling system. |
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| This handbook sets out in
easily understood terms how an effective complaint
handling system can help your organisation improve its
services to customers, the main features and ingredients
of a good and professional complaint handling system and
how one can be established, some basic complaint
handling skills and what redress and remedies can be
afforded to the complainants. |
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Complaints should be
welcomed in order to prevent them. The emphasis should
be on resolving and preventing similar complaints. An
organisation is much more likely to gain public
confidence if it listens to complaints and moves quickly
to resolve or deal with them appropriately. This should
also result in a more professional and effective
functioning of any organisation. Most importantly, a
proper and thorough investigation of a complaint not
only redresses individual grievances but also provides a
golden opportunity for perfecting the administrative
system of an organisation.
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Why a complaint
handling system is needed? |
It is fundamental for any
well managed and responsible organisation to have clear
and well publicized complaint handling procedures. A
good complaint handling system will ensure that most
complaints are resolved swiftly and readily as close to
the root of the problem as possible; that there is a
defined procedure for dealing with complaints remaining
unresolved; and that lessons learned from the
investigation of complaints can be used to improve an
organisation's services. |
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The aims of an
effective complaint handling system |
2. The principal test of the
effectiveness of a complaint handling system is whether
it helps to resolve dissatisfaction of customers about
the services they have received or believe they should
receive. An effective complaint handling system should
provide : |
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a straightforward means for customers to
make a complaint to the organisation |
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a procedure for investigating a complaint |
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a means of keeping the complainant
informed about progress and outcome |
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redress where complaints are substantiated |
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a means of preventing recurrence of
identified problems |
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feedback for management decisions on
resource allocation, prioritization, strategic planning,
service delivery and quality assurance. |
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| The
principles of a good complaint handling system |
3. A good complaint
handling system should be : |
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easily accessible and conspicuous to
customers |
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simple to invoke and operate, with clearly
defined stages and responsibilities |
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efficient, offering speedy action and
resolution within pre-determined time limits |
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objective and free from undue influence or
interference |
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feedback for management decisions on
resource allocation, prioritization, strategic planning,
service delivery and quality assurance. |
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| The essence of an
effective complaint handling system |
4. An effective complaint handling
system should be clear on : |
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the definition of a complaint - this will
be for each organisation to determine and will largely
depend on what the organisation wishes to get out of the
complaint system. A complaint system can be narrowly
defined as a way of properly dealing with serious
grievances. It can also be more widely defined as an
expression of dissatisfaction with the organisation's
policies, procedures, charges, employees, agents,
quality of service or articles sold or provided. It may
be helpful also to clarify what the complaint handling
system does not cover, for example |
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requests for a service
(e.g. reporting a faulty street light which needs
attention) |
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requests for information
or explanation of the organisation's policy or practice |
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matters for which there is
a right of appeal (an independent appeal channel, e.g.
an appeal tribunal or board) or a legal remedy. |
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who can complain - this should be anyone
receiving or seeking a service from the organisation,
including where appropriate anyone authorized by those
unable to lodge the complaint personally. It may also be
useful to develop a policy to deal with anonymous
complaints. Generally anonymous complaints can be acted
on where the matter is relatively serious and there is
sufficient information in the complaint to enable an
investigation to be conducted. Similarly, you may need a
policy on how to deal with repetitive complaints.
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the stages of the procedure - experience
suggests that a staged approach is the most effective
but the number of stages should be minimal, for example
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First stage - the service
providers deal with initial approaches by customers and
attempt to resolve their concerns. To achieve higher
customer satisfaction, front-line staff should deal with
the complaint on the spot as far as possible. |
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Second stage - complaints
from customers still dissatisfied are investigated by an
identified complaints officer at a senior level within
the organisation, and the outcome reported to the
complainant. |
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Third stage - the
complaint should be handled by an independent body
outside the organisation concerned if the internal
procedure fails. For administrative complaints,
organisation should inform complainants that they can
seek an independent and external review from The
Ombudsman or other appropriate bodies.
While this model suggests a hierarchical approach to
complaint handling, this will not always be the case.
Some complaints will never be dealt with by service
providers but will enter the second stage or the third
stage. For example, some complainants may take their
complaints directly to The Ombudsman, who may see it fit
to refer simple complaints to the organisations under
the INCH Programme, and the complaints would enter the
second stage of the process. |
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the form of complaints - As most
organisations have set up telephone hotlines to handle
enquiries, you should be prepared to receive most of
your complaints over the telephone. At the first stage
it may not be necessary to require complainants to file
in any particular form but from the second stage onwards
complaints are best put in writing. Complaint forms
whilst useful can be couched in a more user friendly
form by the use of wordings such as 'tell us what you
think' or 'your opinion counts'. Assistance should be
provided for those who have difficulty in writing down
their complaint. Wherever possible the written complaint
should include details of what the complainant feels
went wrong and what he or she would like your
organisation to do to put things right. |
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time limits - limits need to be set for
each stage of the procedure, including acknowledgment of
receipt, investigation and final response to the
complainant. The more promptly a grievance can be
resolved, the more likely the customer will be satisfied
and think highly of your organisation. If a complaint
lodged through the telephone cannot be resolved on the
spot, dissatisfaction significantly rises if no response
is given in a week's time. With written complaints,
generally, it would be reasonable for complainants to
expect public organisations to give an interim reply or
acknowledge within two weeks and provide a substantive
reply within three weeks. |
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redress - where a complaint is found to be
justified, consideration needs to be given to providing
a redress. The redress needs to be appropriate to the
complaint. An apology can often be the best remedy for a
complaint, particularly if the complainant's concern is
addressed. In fact, a surprising number of people would
be satisfied with an acknowledgment of error. |
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language - replies to complainants should
be in Chinese or English as used in their complaints.
Simple and easily understood terms should be used and
technical and professional jargons should be avoided as
far as possible. |
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further channels - complainants should be
given information about what they can do and where they
can go within the organisation or external redress
channels such as The Ombudsman if they are dissatisfied
with the outcome of their complaint. The alternative for
complainants to seek redress from The Ombudsman should
always be included in an organisation's performance
pledge. This will only enhance more public confidence in
the organisation's commitment to be open, fair and
accountable in serving the public. |
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how to deal with difficult customers -
preparation should be made to deal with more difficult
customers, particularly those who appear to suffer from
a mental illness. It may be useful to identify a
specific member (or team) of staff who have relevant
training to ensure that this group of customers is not
disadvantaged in the complaint process. |
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| Arrangements for
training |
5. Training in complaint handling can
be an integral part of the customer care training to
foster a customer service culture, with emphasis on the
positive benefits for both users and operators of the
system. Training arrangements have to meet the different
needs of : |
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officers who will investigate complaints |
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service providers who will often deal with
complaints |
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The training programme needs to include
induction training to be provided prior to the
introduction of the system and subsequently for new
staff, regular refresher training as a continuing
process and training of staff who take up new roles in
the system. |
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How can complaints
management help your organisation to improve your
services? |
| 6. Although the primary objective of the
complaint handling system is to provide an effective
means for customers to make complaints and have them
resolved, another very important objective will be to
improve services and service delivery. The system needs
to include mechanisms for recording and analyzing the
types and subjects of complaints and the result of
investigations. If investigation reveals any mistake or
problem they should be reported to the relevant section
heads so that appropriate action can be taken to avoid a
recurrence. For grave mistakes with serious consequences
or major problems the head of the organisation should be
alerted to see if a major overhaul of the system is
required. Each complaint is an opportunity to reflect
and improve on your services in a positive way. You can
identify root problems and improve the system by asking
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Where did
things go wrong? |
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Was this kind of
problem/complaint foreseen? |
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Was there a system in place
to deal with such problems? |
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Was the system operating as
it should have? If not, why did the system fail? |
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| How can we do better in
the future? |
Ask these questions : |
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Could this kind of problem/complaint
recur? |
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What likelihood is there of recurrence? |
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What would prevent recurrence? |
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Would the cure be worse than the problem?
(Would the cost and complication of guarding against
another mistake end up being counterproductive?) |
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One indicator of the effectiveness of a
complaint handling system may be the number of systemic
weaknesses or problems that have been identified and
fixed as a result of complaints.
If few systemic weaknesses have been identified since
the introduction of the complaint handling system,
either you have a perfect organisation, or most probably
you may need to review the type of information you
collect about complaints. For example, if you do not
collect information about the branch office which deals
with the customer, but your experience tells you that
quite a lot of complaints have related back to the same
office, you would want to start collecting this
information more thoroughly.
If many systemic weaknesses have been identified
since the introduction of the complaint handling system,
you can feel confident that you are collecting some good
quality information.
Before you conclude that your complaint handling system
is effective from the organisation's perspective, you
should check to ensure that the problem has actually
been fixed, not just identified and accepted.
How do complainants expect to be treated?
When people complain they want six essential things : |
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EFFECTIVE COMPLAINT HANDLING |
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to be heard |
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to be understood |
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to be respected |
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an explanation |
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an apology |
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action as soon as possible |
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Even if you are unable to take the
action they want, if you can provide the other elements
they will usually be reasonably satisfied.
The rights and responsibilities of
complainants |
| 2. Complainants should be aware of and
understand their rights and responsibilities.
Complainants' rights could include : |
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fair treatment |
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courteous treatment |
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timely, accurate advice |
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privacy |
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reasons for decisions |
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include : |
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providing timely and accurate information |
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treating the organisation's staff with
courtesy |
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adopting a reasonable and co-operative
attitude |
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Complaint handling
skills |
| 3. Complaints may be handled more
effectively if the concerned staff adopt the correct
attitude and skills, which may include : |
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showing empathy - remember that whether
the complaint is justified or not, the complainant's
sense of grievance is real. Your organisation is to deal
with that grievance successfully by treating
complainants respectfully, pleasantly and
professionally. |
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seeking clarification whenever necessary
in a non-judgmental way - use open ended questions such
as how? when? who? why? and avoid using prompting
questions with a disbelieving tone such as Are you sure
this is what actually happened? Is ... the underlying
reason for making the complaint? etc. as far as
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trying to defuse any anger of the
complainant before dealing with the problem. Courtesy,
using good listening skills and showing empathy are
extremely important when dealing with this sort of
customer. A good tactic is to go along with any
statements that do not convey blame or contradict the
aims and objectives of your organisation. Use statements
starting with "I quite agree" or "You may be right ..."
You can usually agree with statements of fact, broad
uncontroversial principles and the person's right to
hold their own opinions. Finally, don't debate the facts
or query the rationale or logic of his arguments until
the person is settled. |
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making sure that when you are referring a
complaint to another person or organisation, you are
referring to the appropriate party and fully briefing
that party before you pass the complainant on. Being
referred from party to party is perhaps the most
frustrating experience of any complainant. People will
generally tolerate one 'warm' referral if they don't
have to explain everything again. |
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| Remedies |
4. Remedies may take many forms and may
include : |
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explaining why the action complained about
was taken, having regard to the relevant policies,
procedures and legislation of your organisation. Often
it is useful to provide the customer with a copy of a
particular policy. |
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apologizing with sincerity whenever
warranted. Even if an apology is not warranted, the act
of apologizing can be a potent weapon to appease an
aggrieved person. In those cases, give an apology that
does not accept blame for the organisation e.g. "I'm
sorry that this situation has made you dissatisfied with
us". |
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trying to meet any reasonable requests
that would resolve the matter or taking some particular
action, such as : |
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providing the service not delivered |
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undertaking to make sure outstanding action is taken
within a defined time frame and making sure it is done |
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fixing an identified mistake and informing the
complainants of it |
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providing further detailed/meaningful information to
customers about the services available |
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allocating a different officer to oversee the
customer's case (particularly if the relationship is
likely to be ongoing) |
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reviewing/revoking/revising the original decision |
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reverting to the original decision maker for
reconsideration |
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agreeing to annotate the customer's file to indicate
that facts are disputed |
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changing policy or procedure, so that the problem will
not be experienced by other customers and informing the
complainant of this |
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waiving a charge or surcharge |
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providing other financial compensation according to
existing policy. |
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| What if your
organisation is unsuccessful in resolving the complaint? |
5. Internal complaint handling does
have its drawbacks in that the complainants tend to
doubt its independence and impartiality and that it is
usually restricted by the policy of the organisation. It
will be up to the organisations to act positively and
more openly in order to eliminate these doubts.
6. It will not always be possible to satisfy
complainants or agree to all the terms of settlement
that they want. Common sense will dictate what is
reasonable or achievable having regard to the
organisation's policy and resources. Further action may
not always be necessary so long as your organisation has
properly listened to the complainants, understood them,
respected them, and provided an appropriate explanation
and apology. Your organisation can take the following
approaches : |
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the complainant should be told in clear
terms what your organisation can and cannot do |
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your organisation should inform the
complainant to seek an independent review by The
Ombudsman |
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the complainant should be advised of
established appeal mechanisms, both administrative or
statutory, to seek an external review and where
appropriate the possibility of seeking other legal
remedies.
(April 1998) |
