EVERY CUSTOMER, EVERY TIME – “Everybody Matters”

Our Customer Service Pledge

Our customers are important to us and we aim to provide high quality services, exceed customer expectations and delight our customers. We will treat you as individuals, listen carefully to you, be sensitive to your needs, and take ownership of problems so that you can be confident that someone is dealing with your issue.

What customers can expect from us…

We will :- 

• be friendly, polite, helpful, attentive and considerate at all times;
  
  
• provide accurate and clear information;
  
  
• use plain English and avoid jargon or technical terms;
  
  
• be open and honest about what we can and cannot deliver;
  
  
• get back to you when we say we will, and advise you of our progress when we are taking longer than anticipated to address an issue.

We always aim to get it right first time, every time so that you don’t have to keep contacting us about the same issue. 

If the first person you have contact with cannot help you and they have to pass on your enquiry to someone else they will tell you who will be dealing with it.

If your enquiry cannot be dealt with at the time you contact us we will make sure you know what is happening and when you can expect to receive further contact from us.

Some services have to work to different standards because of laws that set out how they must operate and details these are available online or from the relevant service. Otherwise the following timescales will apply when you contact us.

We will always make our services, offices and information as accessible as possible to all our customers.

Whilst our focus is on quality, we also aim to provide a quality response within an acceptable period. As a guide these are the timeframes we aim to work within:-

Emails
When you email us we aim to respond to all customer enquiries requiring a response within 2 days of the day it was received by us. In most cases this will be a full response but if the issue will take longer to investigate or resolve we will tell you when you can expect a full response.

If the officer you have emailed is out of the office you will be advised when that officer will be available and who to contact in the meantime if your enquiry is urgent.

We aim respond to all customer enquiries made by letter within 7 working days of the date it is received by us. In most cases this will be a full response but if the issue will take longer to investigate or resolve before we can get back to you we will tell you when we intend to get a full response out to you.

If you visit one of our customer service centres in person, we aim to see you within 5 minutes of your arrival to find out the nature of your enquiry. If you need to see a customer service advisor we will then see you as soon possible and wherever possible within 15 minutes. We will advise you of approximate waiting times if it will be longer than 15 minutes and advise you of alternative options if appropriate. 

If the person you see cannot help you they will tell you who can and provide you with facilities to speak to them if they are within our organisation or pass on contact details if this is more suitable. If you need assistance with English a telephone interpreter can be provided at this time. 

If it is appropriate for you to have an appointment with a specialist officer we will make the necessary arrangements for you to see them at the time that is most convenient to you (within normal office hours). If you need assistance with English an interpreter, or a British Sign Language interpreter (subject to availability) will be arranged for the appointment.

If you have an appointment with a member of staff they will see you on time. 

Telephone
If you call the customer services centre one of our customer service advisors aims to answer telephone calls within 20 seconds (6 rings) during opening times. At times of peak demand we will advise you if you are in queue and will keep waiting times as short as possible.

Staff in all other offices aim to answer 100% of their ‘phone calls within 20 seconds (6 rings) between 9am and 5pm.

If you need assistance with English a telephone interpreter can be provided at this time.

If voicemail is activated you will be told when the member of staff is going to be available and given an alternative number to call in the event the enquiry is urgent. Staff will respond to voicemail messages within 1 working day of the date of the call, or within 1 working day of the date the message tells you they will return to the office.

Online
We will ensure all the information on our website is accurate, up to date and makes sense to customers. 

We will acknowledge all complaints made though our complaints procedure within 2 working days and carry out investigations to enable us to respond to you within 15 working days of receipt of your complaint. If this is not possible we will tell you exactly when you can expect a response from us.

Home visits

If we have an appointment to visit you at home we will:

• ensure you understand the reason for the visit;

• let you know if we cannot keep the appointment, or if we are going to be delayed;
  
  
• ensure you and your home is treated with respect;
  
  
• let you know what we will do next if follow up action is necessary.

We value the diversity of our communities and want to ensure that everyone has fair access to our services. We are therefore committed to equality and diversity in the way we respond to your needs and in the way we provide our services. We will not discriminate unfairly or unlawfully on any grounds and in particular the grounds of race, gender (including gender identity), disability, age, religion or belief, or sexual orientation. 

Different services may be offered, or services may be provided in a different way where it would be appropriate to do so (e.g. different services may be offered based on age or a service may be provided differently to include reasonable adjustments for disability).