Complaints Policy

COMPLAINTS POLICY

               Objective

               PercussionAcademy (‘P.A.’) is committed to providing a high quality service for all of its customers and working in an open and accountable way that builds the trust and respect of all our stakeholders. One of the ways in which we continue to improve our service is by listening and responding to the views of our candidates, learners, customers and stakeholders, and in particular by responding positively to complaints, and by correcting mistakes at the earliest opportunity.

               Statement

P.A. will ensure that making a complaint is as easy as possible:

We will treat a complaint as a clear expression of dissatisfaction with our service which calls for a rapid response;

We will deal with all complaints promptly, politely and, when appropriate, confidentially;

We will respond in the right way - for example, with an explanation, or an apology where we have got things wrong, and information on any action taken

We will learn from complaints, use them to improve our service, and review annually our complaints policy and procedures.

We will be fair in the way we deal with complaints, treating all complainants in the same way. We will not allow those who complain to gain unfair advantage by doing so, for example by changing    marks or results.

               Appeals  

               This policy excludes appeals. Appeals involve the reconsideration of matters of substance that relate to you that have been decided by P.A., such as your result in an examination if you are a candidate. If your cause for dissatisfaction concerns a decision taken by P.A. relating to you, you should follow the procedures laid down in the P.A. Appeals Policy. For more information about the P.A. Appeals Policy, please visit www.percussion academy.co.uk.

               Complaints

Please record all correspondence or documentation, and the names of all P.A. personnel that you have been in contact with, whether by phone or in writing, regarding your complaint. Please do not send original documents.

If you would prefer to be contacted by telephone, please also provide your telephone number, along with the best time(s) and day(s) for us to contact you.

               Handling informal complaints

We recognise that many concerns will be raised informally, often verbally, and dealt with quickly. Our aims are to:

resolve informal concerns quickly;

enable mediation between the complainant and the individual to whom the complaint has been referred.

An informal approach is appropriate when it can be achieved. But if concerns cannot be satisfactorily resolved informally, then the formal complaints procedure should be followed (see below).

               Handling formal complaints

The formal complaints procedure is intended to ensure that all complaints are handled fairly, consistently and wherever possible resolved to the complainant's satisfaction.

Definition: P.A. defines a complaint as 'any expression of dissatisfaction (with P.A., with a member of staff, a representative, our products or services) that relates to P.A. and that requires a formal response'.

All formal complaints must be made in writing (which can include e-mail)

PercussionAcademy’s responsibility will be to:

acknowledge the formal complaint in writing;

 respond within a stated period of time;

deal reasonably and sensitively with the complaint;

take action where appropriate.

               We ask complainants to:

bring their complaint, in writing, to P.A’s attention normally

within 4 weeks of the issue arising;

raise concerns promptly and directly with P.A.’s Complaints Officer (as above);

explain the problem as clearly and as fully as possible, including any action taken to date;

allow P.A. a reasonable time to deal with the matter.
We would ask complainants to recognise that some circumstances may be beyond P.A.’s control.

NB We reserve the right to cease corresponding with a customer if their correspondence is, in our reasonable opinion, frivolous, malicious or abusive.

               Procedure

P.A. operates a two-stage procedure for dealing with complaints:

Stage 1

In the first instance, if you are unable to resolve the issue informally, you should write to P.A.’s Complaints Officer. You should set out the details of your complaint, the consequences for you as a result, and the remedy you are seeking.

You can expect your complaint to be acknowledged within 7 working days of receipt.

P.A. will endeavour to provide a full  response and an explanation within a further 14 working days, this is to allow time for any investigation required to be carried out.

Stage 2

If you are not satisfied with the response to the complaint then you can write to P.A.'s Chief Executive and ask for your complaint and the response to be reviewed. You can expect the Chief Executive to acknowledge your request within 7 working days of receipt and a response within further 14 workings days. The Chief Executive’s decision is final.

P.A.'s aim is to resolve all matters as quickly as possible. However, inevitably some issues will be more complex and therefore may require longer to be fully investigated. Consequently timescales given for handling and responding to complaints are indicative. If a matter requires more detailed investigation, you will receive an interim response describing what is being done to deal with the matter, and when a full reply can be expected and from whom.

This policy is subject to review at the discretion of P.A.’s Executive and/or as required by changes to legislation.