Solon aims to give a high quality service. We hope that you will be pleased with the services we provide, but we realise that you may sometime want to complain about something that we have done or not done. This is how to take up your complaint and how we will respond to it.

What is a complaint
A complaint is when you tell us you are not happy.

For example if;

A complaint is not;

The complaints procedure deals with complaints about us, so a complaint about your neighbour would not be dealt with under this procedure.  Click Here to download a copy of our policy and procedure.

You may make a complaint in whichever way you choose;

How to make your complaint
Before you make a complaint, try to speak to the person you would normally deal with at the office. Most problems can be sorted out quickly and easily in this way. If this does not sort out your problem and you still want to make a complaint, please give us as much detail as possible about your complaint as this helps us to deal with it more quickly.

Tell us what happened , when it happened, who was involved and what you want us to do about it.

If you want us to investigate your complaint, you should contact us within four months of it happening.

First Stage
We aim to acknowledge your complaint as soon as we receive it and let you know who will be dealing with it. We aim to sort out the problem within 10 working days. You will receive a written reply from a manager setting out what we will do.  

If your complaint is complicated it may take longer to deal with. We may ask for further details from you and may suggest an interview or visit you at your home to help resolve your problem. In these cases we will keep you informed of progress and when you can expect a full response. We hope that most complaints can be resolved at this stage.

If your complaint is about a staff member it will be investigated by their line manager or an equivalent senior member of staff.

Second Stage
If you are not satisfied with the reply and feel that you still have a cause for complaint you can ask to move to Stage 2. At Stage 2 your complaint can be referred to the Customer Services Director. However, you must explain clearly why you are not satisfied with the outcome of Stage 1. We will not normally accept a request to move to Stage 2 any later than two months after our full response at stage 1.

If you feel that an interview with the Customer Services Director would help in explaining your complaint, this may be arranged by appointment. The Customer Services Director will look into your complaint further, and will reply within 10 working days.

Third Stage - Appeal
If you are still not satisfied, you can refer your case to Stage 3. We will ask you to tell us why you think we should investigate your complaint further, giving your reasons to the Chair of the Association's Complaints Panel at Solon's office. We will not normally accept a request to move to Stage 3 any later than two months after our full response at Stage 2.

The Complaints Panel consists of members of the Board of Management who are appointed by the Board each year, one of whom will be a resident Board member, and the Chief Executive. The panel will look at your complaint, and one of its members may ask to meet with you and give you a chance to explain your complaint in person You will receive a written reply within 20 working days.

In certain cases you may be asked to attend a hearing of the whole Panel - after this you should receive their decision within 5 working days.

If you are still not satisfied with the response of the Association you can refer your complaint to the Independent Housing Ombudsman Service at;
Leaflets on how to do this are available from our office. Please note that the ombudsman will not normally investigate unless you have previously referred your complaint through each stage of our Complaints procedure.

What happens if your complaint is upheld
If at any of the three stages your complaint is upheld, we will apologise then take steps to put things right and make sure the situation does not happen again. There may be times when we should pay compensation. We will tell you this in our written reply.

Solon monitors all formal complaints received and reports on these to the Board of Management. We also publish how many complaints we have received each year as part of our annual performance which is sent to tenants and is included in our annual report. We will try to learn form a complaint any lessons for improving the delivery of our service.

How will you be treated if you complain
If you use our complaints procedure you can expect us to;

• Deal with your complaint as quickly as possible
• Take your complaint seriously, look at all the points you raise and provide an appropriate response
• Respect confidentiality
• Deal with you fairly, and undertake a full and impartial investigation
• Treat you with respect in line with our Equality and Diversity Policy
• Keep you informed of progress and outcomes using plain English or other language translation if needed
• Check your satisfaction with the outcome and our handling of your complaint
• Use the feedback to review and improve the way we provide services

For more information on how to make a complaint please Click Here  to download a leaftlet 

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