Complaints Policy

As the statutory and independent body for consumers in Scotland, we are committed to ensuring that consumer interests are at the heart of a fair, transparent and sustainable Scottish marketplace.

We acknowledge, however, that sometimes we could do things better and sometimes we will make mistakes. We welcome feedback about our work and the opportunity to put things right wherever possible.

If you are dissatisfied with our service, or Consumer Scotland, we would invite you to tell us. This Complaints Policy describes our complaints procedure and how to make a complaint.

Consumer Scotland consider any expression of dissatisfaction, by one or more members of the public (including representatives*), about:

• the organisation's action or lack of action
• conduct of our staff including treatment by, or attitude of
• failure to follow administrative procedures

*We will require proof that consent has been given if someone else is complaining on your behalf.

We will not consider as a complaint:

• requests for information about, or comments about the content of, any of our publications
• attempts to reopen a previously concluded complaint or to have a complaint reconsidered where we have already given our final decision
• complaints relating to products and/or services not provided by Consumer Scotland

You can make a complaint in writing, by email, or via our contact form on our website.

Post: Consumer Scotland, Thistle House, 91 Haymarket Terrace, Edinburgh, EH12 5HD

Email: info@consumer.scot   

Contact us form: Contact us | Consumer Scotland

When making a complaint, please tell us:

• your full name and contact details (postal or email address)
• as much as you can about your complaint
• what has gone wrong
• how you want us to resolve the matter

Normally, you must make your complaint within three months of:

• the event you want to complain about
• finding out that you have reason to complain, but no longer than 12 months after the event itself

In exceptional circumstances, we may be able to accept a complaint after the time limit. If you consider that the time limit should not apply to your complaint, please tell us why.

We will always tell you who is dealing with your complaint. Our complaints procedure has two stages.

When we receive your complaint, we will acknowledge receipt of the complaint within three working days and advise who is dealing with the complaint.

Stage One: Frontline resolution

We will always try to resolve complaints as quickly as possible and aim to give you our Stage One decision within five working days or less. This might mean an explanation and on-the-spot apology is given or immediate action is taken to fix the problem.

If we cannot resolve your complaint at this stage, we will explain why. If you are unhappy with our response, you can ask us to consider your complaint at Stage Two.

You may choose either to do this immediately or after you receive our initial decision.

Stage Two: Investigation

Stage Two deals with two types of complaint:

• those that have not been resolved at Stage One, and
• those that are complex and require further investigation

In Stage Two we will:

• where necessary, discuss your complaint with you to understand why you remain dissatisfied and what outcome you are looking for
• give you a full response to the complaint as soon as possible and within 20 working days

However, if our investigation will take longer than 20 working days, we will tell you and agree a revised time scale with you, and keep you updated on progress.

Please note: if your complaint is received after 3pm, day one of the complaints process will be the following working day (excluding weekends, strike days, and public holidays).

In line with our Privacy Notice, we will only keep your personal information for the minimum amount of time necessary. Once our correspondence with you has ended, we will retain a record for 12 months.

After we have fully investigated, if you are still dissatisfied with our decision or with the way we have dealt with your complaint, you can ask the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman to look at it.

The Scottish Public Services Ombudsman cannot look at:

• a complaint that has not completed our complaints procedure (so please make sure that it has done so before contacting the Ombudsman)
• events that happened, or that you became aware of, more than 12 months ago
• a matter that has been, or is being considered, in Court

Contacting the Scottish Public Service Ombudsman

The SPSO's contact details are:

Post: SPSO, 4 Melville Street, Edinburgh, EH3 7NS SPSO

Freepost: EH641 Edinburgh EH3 0BR

Freephone: 0800 377 7330

Online contact: www.spso.org.uk/contact-us    

Website: www.spso.org.uk  

Further information

We understand that people may act out of character in times of trouble or distress. The circumstances leading to a complaint may result in the customer acting in an unacceptable way.

Regardless of this, we will treat all complaints seriously and properly assess them. However, we also recognise that the actions of those who are angry, demanding or persistent may result in unreasonable demands on time and resources or unacceptable behaviour towards our staff.

We will, therefore, apply our policies and procedures to protect staff from unacceptable behaviour such as unreasonable persistence, threats or offensive behaviour from customers. Where we decide to restrict access to a complainant due to unacceptable actions, we have a procedure in place to communicate that decision, notify the complainant of a right of appeal, and review any decision to restrict contact with us.

Any action to communicate such a decision will require sign off from a member of the Senior Leadership Team.

Should the complainant wish to appeal the decision, this will be managed by a member of the Executive Team.

We understand that you may be unable, or reluctant, to make a complaint yourself. We accept complaints from the representative of a person who is dissatisfied with our service. We can take complaints from a friend, relative, or an advocate, if you have given them consent to complain for you.

You can find out about advocates in your area by contacting the Scottish Independent Advocacy Alliance:

Telephone: 0131 510 9410

Website: www.siaa.org.uk

You can find out about advisers in your area through Citizens Advice Scotland:

Website: www.cas.org.uk 

or check your phone book for your local citizens advice bureau.

We are committed to listening to complaints or feedback regarding Consumer Scotland, and making the process as easy as possible for those wishing to complain.

If you have trouble putting your complaint in writing, or want this information in another language or format, such as large font, or Braille, email us at: info@consumer.scot