What is most important to you when you make a complaint? Please take our poll

UKParliament

Note from MSE: This poll is part of a project the House of Commons has undertaken on the MSE Forum into the Parliament’s Ombudsman Service (the independent body that deals with complaints about government departments and the NHS).

The question can apply to any areas you might want to complaint about though, so we've moved the thread to this board to see what you guys have to say.

By voting in the poll, the group of MPs running the project will be able to use the information to write a report about complaints to government departments and the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman.

This report will be sent to the government who will be requested to respond within 8 weeks ,so your views really count.

Thanks in advance, MSE Wendy

Back to the original thread...

Please do vote in our poll and tell us what matters most when making a complaint. If you tick the option 'other' please do tell us why below - we would be very grateful.


Knowing who to complain to when you have a problem with a public service is not always straightforward.

What would make it easier for you to find out who to complain to?

We ask that you refrain from going into detail about your specific complaint on this forum. What we are looking for are the wider lessons that can be learned based on your experiences.

Please be aware that we cannot investigate or comment on specific complaints and won't be able to intervene in, or reconsider, cases that have already been decided.

To find out more about The Public Administration Select Committee’s inquiry into Parliament’s Ombudsman Service please see Public Administration Select Committee: Have your say on the complaints process.

Thank you for taking the time to help us with our inquiry
DOT

MothballsWallet

I selected Other because there's no All The Above option.

UKParliament

MothballsWallet wrote: »

I selected Other because there's no All The Above option.

Thank your MothballsWallet - we'll bear this in mind while looking at the results.

Thank you for voting.

Best wishes
DOT

Former_MSE_Wendy

Consumer Rights board bump

arcon5

What a ridiculous poll, surely which factor is most important depends on the type of complaint ?! In which case many options are equally as important!

Not a proud moment for the government researchers!

jacques_chirac

Another vote for 'all of the above' - I would want a simple and timely process with explanations for any delays (over and above published time frames).

In terms of an apology, there is research to show that many people would prefer this over 'compo' (I cannot recall the source, it was looking at clinical negligence in particular), so long as it is genuine and not shrouded in spin - people do not want 'gestures of goodwill', they want to know what went wrong and what steps are being taken to ensure it does not happen again, and that the process will be reviewed to ensure the steps are working.

In addition, I would like it to be clear who to complain to if the complaints process was not adhered to - so not complaining about the outcome/ disagreeing with the decision, but any maladministration in reaching that decision.

jacques_chirac

MSE_Wendy wrote: »

Consumer Rights board bump

Wendy,

Perhaps the thread would receive more relevant responses if the irrelevant ones were deleted?

Former_MSE_Wendy

A couple of the earlier posts have been removed.

Please vote or reply with your complaint considerations

UKParliament

Thank you for all your votes so far - please do keep them coming through.

Your comments and votes will help to inform the MPs in the Public Administration Select Committee when they come to write their recommendations to the Government as part of their inquiry into complaints to the Parliamentary and Health Services Ombudsman and government departments in general.

Thanks
DOT

PS - to find out more about the work of the Committee you can visit http://www.parliament.uk/pasc

visidigi

All of the above.

But above all - a phone number that doesn't make the government more money when you are calling to make a complaint! No Government number should be 0844/0845/0870 etc.

duchy

Wow I'm a mature student (with extensive real world experience of actually dealing with customer complaints over many years) in Social Science and I am amazed at the poor construction of this survey.

A few suggestions

Having an individual taking ownership of both the complaint and the resolution

Ability to check progress of complaint

Cost to complain (leaving someone in a long queue on an 0844 number is proven to reduce number of complaints but not customer satisfaction)

Clear explanation of complaints process and timescales

Quite honestly I don't see the point of research when the raw data collected is so flawed. As pointed out earlier there cannot be one answer as it is too broad . It's a little like saying - What would you like to eat? Depending on the time of day, location , previous meals consumed (or not) that day etc etc-the priorities will be entirely different. It is the same with complaints - some people want resolution there and then, others want acknowledgement there is a problem and info on process to resolve, some even just want someone to vent to-as always one size does not fit all.....a basic concept that this proposed draft has missed but perhaps not too surprising as it mirrors government policy at this time by trying to see situations as entirely black and white and ignoring the vast expanses of greys.