Our service standards

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We worked with residents to produce these standards, which show the level of customer care that we will provide.

They set out:

Our commitment to provide the best, fairest, and most honest service we can;
The customer service standards that you can expect of us;
What we expect from you; and
That we will treat you politely, courteously, and respectfully and be ready to help you with your enquiry or problem.

We are fully committed to achieving the promises we make in these standards.

Visiting the office

We will:

provide a comfortable reception that is easily accessible for everyone;
display useful, up-to-date information about our activities and events, other housing information, and office opening hours; and
arrange an appointment for you.

Telephone and text messages

We will:

aim to answer all calls within 5 rings and give our full names;
ask you some questions to check that we are talking to the right person;
aim to resolve your enquiry immediately or transfer your call promptly to the right person;
respond to text messages within 2 working hours; and
give you our direct phone numbers and email addresses on request.

You can:

Correspondence and email

We will:

answer to letters and emails within five working days.
provide the full name, job title, direct telephone number, and email address of the person writing to you; and
write to you in plain language.

You can:

Equality and diversity

We will:

provide services that are equally accessible to all our customers and that are fair and free from discrimination;
arrange for an interpreter to be available if you need one;
try to provide information about our services in the best possible format for you - including large print, audio tape, and other languages; and
act fairly when we deal with you, and treat your personal details with absolute confidentiality.

Visiting your home

We will:

arrange all visits at a time that is convenient for both you and us. If you have requested a home visit, we will visit you within the next ten working days;
let you know when we will do any repair work that you report to us;
carry our official identity cards and show them on arrival. If you are unsure of anyone’s identity, do not let them in. Phone our office immediately for advice on 01249 465465; and
tell you as soon as possible if we are unable to attend an appointment and immediately offer you a new time.

Complaints, comments, and suggestions

We will:

welcome feedback and complaints. If you are not receiving the level of service we promise you, tell us immediately so we can put it right;
aim to sort out complaints on the spot;
take all customers’ complaints seriously; and
provide full details of the complaints procedure and help you to resolve the problem if we can not put it right straight away.

Checking our performance

We will:

regularly review the complaints we receive to spot any particular problems with our service;
constantly check how quickly and efficiently we answer to telephone calls, text messages, emails and letters;
continually review how satisfied you are with our services and publish the results; and
check how well we are meeting the promises we have made and tell you how we are doing in each issue of HOME magazine.

We expect you to:

treat staff and contractors politely, and with courtesy and respect. We will not see anyone whose behaviour is offensive, abusive, threatening, or violent;
give us full details of any complaint or concern, provide us with information and explain how you would like it to be resolved;
contact us if you do not understand any information we send to you;
keep any appointment that you have made with us and tell us as soon as possible if you can’t attend; and
identify yourself and provide your name and address.

Click here to download a copy of this leaflet in PDF format.