A stage one response due Friday, and no answer from repairs
A tenant complains that a leak has been reported three times. The complaint is logged, and the complaints officer has a set number of working days to respond at stage one under your policy. They email the repairs manager for the job history and ask the housing officer about a visit last month. The repairs manager is on leave. The housing officer replies with half the answer.
Friday comes. The response goes out late, or on time but vague. The tenant escalates to stage two, which adds more deadlines and more requests to the same busy teams.
Why deadlines keep slipping
The complaints team owns the deadline, but not the information. Every complaint needs evidence from other teams, and those requests travel by email with no deadline of their own and no escalation. Promised remedies, such as a repair by a date or a compensation payment, are made in a letter and then tracked by memory.
- Complaints are logged in one system, repairs history is in another.
- Information requests to other teams have no owner or due date.
- Deadlines are counted by hand, with working days and extensions worked out on a calendar.
- Remedies promised in responses are not tracked to completion.
- Service requests and complaints are sometimes confused, so the clock starts late.
What late complaints cost
Late or thin responses escalate, taking more staff time at each stage and damaging the relationship with the tenant. Complaints that reach an ombudsman take more time still. Remedies that are promised and not delivered create a second complaint about the first. Your board and regulator increasingly look closely at complaint handling performance, so gaps are visible beyond the organisation.
The complaint tracking we build
- Complaints are recorded from every channel into one log, with a clear step to decide whether it is a complaint or a service request under your policy, so the clock starts correctly.
- The right stage timer starts, counting working days and any extensions you allow, with the due date shown on the case.
- The case pulls relevant history from your housing management and repairs systems, such as recent repairs jobs at the address, so the officer does not have to ask for it.
- Where input is needed from another team, a request goes to a named owner with a due date before the response deadline. Owners are reminded, and their managers are told if requests go unanswered.
- Response letters are drafted from your templates with the case facts filled in, for the officer to edit and approve. A language model can help draft the summary where you choose, always reviewed by a person.
- Remedies promised in the response become tracked actions with owners and dates, and the case stays open until they are done.
- Reports show open complaints by stage, days remaining, response times and themes, in the format your board and self-assessment use.
| Part of the process | By email | With tracking |
|---|---|---|
| Deadline | Calendar counting | Timer on the case |
| Repairs history | Requested from repairs | Pulled in automatically |
| Input from other teams | Email with no deadline | Owned request with due date and chasing |
| Remedies | In the letter only | Tracked actions |
| Reporting | Built by hand | Live from the log |
Your complaints policy and how it reflects the relevant code are decided by you and your advisers. We build tracking around your process and do not promise compliance with any code.
What the complaints team gets back
Officers spend their time understanding the complaint and writing a good response, not chasing colleagues. Other teams know exactly what is asked of them and by when. Promised remedies happen, because someone owns each one. Managers see risks to deadlines days ahead, and board reports come from the log rather than a spreadsheet.
Does your complaints process look like this?
- Stage responses often go out late or with gaps.
- Complaints officers spend time chasing other teams by email.
- Deadlines are worked out on a calendar.
- Promised remedies are not always delivered.
- Complaint reports for the board are built by hand.