Tips on making a complaint

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Initially, you should try to resolve the issue with the company, industry, agency or the person with whom you have a grievance.

It is usually best to write a letter of complaint, however, an initial phone call may help clarify some of the issues or may help you understand the organisation's complaint handling procedures.

Make yourself heard
If you phone, tell the relevant person about your complaint, ask them if they can help and what they intend to do.

Ask for their name and position and keep notes of what was said and the time and date of your call.

If there is any doubt about whether your concerns have been properly addressed, write a letter.

Send your letter to to the person in the organisation who is responsible for supervising the person or area that you are having trouble with or to the complaint handling officer, if there is one.

If you are unable to identify these people, write to the head of the organisation.

Make it clear in your letter that you consider them responsible for the problem and that they must address your concerns.

In the letter, summarise in a couple of sentences exactly what your complaint is about.

Make sure you include relevant dates, places and times, a description of the incident or problem, details of any phone conversations and meetings, any explanations you think are important, and copies of relevant documents.

Explain what action you think should be taken to resolve your problem.

Make sure your demands are reasonable.

If your request is realistic and within the power of the person you are writing to, you are more likely to get your complaint resolved.

Follow up
Always request that your letter or phone call be acknowledged in writing.

Ask the organisation for an estimate of how long it will take to deal with your complaint.

It is important that you keep copies of all the letters you send and receive as well as details of all telephone calls.

You may need to provide evidence of your dealings with the organisation, particularly if you decide to refer the matter to another agency.

If nothing happens, call the organisation to check on the progress of your complaint. If they are not able to provide you with an update, then write again.

Make it clear to the person you speak or write to that the problem will not go away unless it is resolved.

If your complaint is not properly resolved, or is not dealt with in a reasonable time, you may want to take it to another agency.