Unhappy with our service?
If you are unhappy about the service you have received from our staff or if you feel we have not handled something properly, this section gives you information on how to complain. If you are unhappy with our decision about your complaint, please see the separate guidance, Unhappy with a decision? If you are not sure, please contact us for advice.
We know we cannot please everyone and that sometimes a decision can disappoint because the outcome is not what was hoped for. However, whatever the outcome of your case, we hope you will be satisfied with the level of service we provide and the way we treated you.
We also know that, as in any organisation, things can sometimes go wrong. Please tell us if this happens, so that we can put things right and learn from any mistakes. We would like to hear from you if you feel dissatisfied with any aspect of our service. For example, if you think we have:
- treated you unfairly or rudely;
- failed to explain things clearly or listen to your concerns properly;
- caused unreasonable delays.
We take complaints about our service very seriously. We want to know if things go wrong so that we can put them right and improve our service in the future.
Step 1
In the first instance, please contact the person dealing with your enquiry or complaint. They will consider your concerns and we hope they will able to resolve the problem as quickly as possible. You can do this by letter, fax, phone or email. Usually things can be sorted out straight away at this stage.
Step 2
If you remain dissatisfied, you should write setting out your concerns, to our Interim Chief Executive (ICEO), Rosemary Agnew. Please clearly mark your letter 'Personal - Service Delivery Complaint'. The ICEO will acknowledge your complaint within three working days. She will ask another SLCC Manager, independent of your legal complaint, to deal with your service delivery complaint. We will aim to provide a full reply within 20 working days of receiving your letter. If we cannot reply within 20 working days, we will write to explain why not and tell you when you can expect a full response.
The person you are complaining about will be told that a complaint has been made and will be asked for their views. They will not be involved in looking into the complaint in any other way. If our enquiries show that your complaint about our service is justified, we will apologise and tell you how we will address the problem. Where relevant, we will also tell you how we plan to make sure the mistake does not happen again.
Step 3
If you are still not happy when you have received our response, you can write again to our ICEO, Rosemary Agnew, who will personally review your complaint and the way in which it was dealt.
If your complaint is about a Member, you can write to our ICEO, Rosemary Agnew, who will review your complaint. If you are not content with the response and you believe a Member has breached the code of conduct, you can complain to The Standards Commission for Scotland - (http://www.standardscommissionscotland.org.uk/ )
If your complaint is about the ICEO, please write to her and she will try to resolve your complaint. If are not content with her response, please write to our Chairing Member, Jane Irvine, who will review the decision and if appropriate, arrange for an independent investigation from someone external to the SLCC.
We keep a record of all complaints made about our service and record the outcome of each complaint. We produce statistical information relating to these complaints each year.
