Complaints and Compliments

Making a Complaint

Customer service is a key part of One Manchester's business and our aim is to provide excellent quality services for our customers at all times. However, we know we can’t deliver a perfect service every time and when this happens we want to know about it.

We will do our best to resolve the issue quickly and efficiently and use complaints to improve the service we provide. You can see our complaints policy here.

The policy is based on a set of principles with the overarching aim of quickly identifying what if anything went wrong and prompt action to put it right. It is also based on the requirement set out in the Housing Ombudsman’s Complaint Handling Code which can be found here. The Code itself is available to download as a PDF here.

We are required to carry out a self-assessment against the Code and publish it before the 31 December each year. Our most recent Board approved self-assessment can be found here.  

How to Make a Complaint

You must provide the following information when contacting us by your chosen method (telephone/in person/email etc.) to make a complaint:

  • Your full name and address
  • Details of your complaint
  • Copies of any correspondence or documents relating to your complaint
  • How you wish your complaint to be resolved

Complaints can be sent to:

Complaints Team, Lovell House, Archway 6, Hulme, Manchester, M15 5RN

or:   

Complaints Performance

As part of our commitment to service improvement, we monitor the complaints we have received and our performance in responding to those complaints. We also review why customers are complaining and make changes to reduce the chances of making the same mistakes again. You can view our complaints performance here.

How to Send a Compliment

If you have received particularly good customer service from a member of the One Manchester team, we'd love to hear about it. You can send a compliment in the following ways:

  • online form
  • delivered to/made in person at various drop-ins across our areas - click here for opening times and accessibility information
  • telephone: 0330 355 100

Stage 1 ‘Put It Right’ aims to quickly resolve straightforward complaints that require little or no investigation. The main principle is to seek quick resolution, putting things right at the earliest opportunity. This may involve a Customer Services Adviser resolving the issue or immediately transferring you to a colleague to deal directly with your complaint. In either case your complaint can be settled appropriately without further detailed investigation. Your complaint will be logged as a stage 1 complaint and a formal stage 1 written (letter/email) response will be sent but no further investigation will be undertaken. The response should be sent within two working days.  

If your complaint is more complex and requires further investigation it will be forwarded to our Complaints Team to log and acknowledge within two working days. The complaint will be allocated to an appropriate manager or director to conduct a full investigation as a stage 1 ‘Investigate It’ complaint. This investigation should include contact with you (e.g. by telephone/email or face to face) as a matter of course. This includes providing you with an opportunity to comment on any adverse findings before a final decision is made.  A full written formal stage 1 response will be provided within 10 working days from receipt of the complaint.

For your complaint to move to stage 2 you must tell us, within one month of our stage 1 response, which of the following is the reason for your request:

  • All or some of the points raised as part of your complaint have not been investigated or responded to or where you feel the outcome is wrong
  • All or some of the agreed actions have not been carried out within the specified timescales or carried out to a less than satisfactory standard (the one month stage 2 request timescale can be extended to 7 working days beyond our final action deadline if that deadline exceeds the one month period)
  • We failed to respond to your complaint within the published timescales as set out in our policy including any notified additional time
  • You must also tell us what outcome you want from the stage 2 process.

Your request to move to stage 2 will initially be considered by our Complaints Team. If an issue can be resolved without the need for a stage 2 review that is the approach we will take. If an issue cannot be resolved and we accept the reason for your request we will refer your complaint for a formal review to a director or member of the Executive Leadership Team and contact you within five working days offering you a face to face/virtual meeting or a conference call with them or alternatively they can consider your written appeal. This is a further opportunity for you to set out your position. The stage 2 response will be provided within 20 working days from your stage 2 request. Again, you will be given the opportunity to comment on any adverse findings before a final decision is made.  

If we decide not to accept the reason for your stage 2 request we will write to you within seven working days with an explanation of our decision. In either event this will be the final response from One Manchester and the end of our internal complaints process.

If you still aren’t satisfied following our internal stages, you can ask to have your complaint reviewed independently of One Manchester. This can be done by your local MP or a local Councillor.

Most cases are resolved early on but if you are still not satisfied at the end of the process you can contact the Housing Ombudsman Service and ask them to investigate your complaint. The Ombudsman will only formally investigate your complaint after you have been through One Manchester’s internal process. However, you are able to contact the Housing Ombudsman Service at any stage of your complaint for advice. Go to the Housing Ombudsman website for advice.

We are committed to providing excellent customer service and to ensuring that we better understand and meet the needs and requirements of our residents by facilitating fair and equal access to our services. To this end we will make reasonable adjustments if they will help you access the complaints process. There is no prescribed list of reasonable adjustments; the adjustment will depend on your needs. We will discuss your requirements with you and seek to reach agreement on what may be reasonable in the circumstances. Read our Reasonable Adjustment Statement.

When we receive your complaint we will:

  • try to resolve your complaint immediately if we can
  • if we can’t we will refer your complaint to an appropriate manager for investigation and acknowledge this step within 2 working days
  • investigate and provide a formal response within 10 working days from receipt of your complaint
  • respond to any stage 2 request that we accept within 5 working days
  • respond to any stage 2 request that we reject within 7 working days
  • conduct the stage 2 review and provide a formal response within 20 working days from the date of stage 2 request
  • provide a holding letter if we are unable to meet the above timescales
  • offer a suitable remedy for any failures in service
  • learn from our mistakes to improve our services

Our One Money team is regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority which has different rules for dispute resolution and is covered by the Financial Ombudsman Service. Section 8 of our Complaints Policy has further details.

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