Compliments, Suggestions
& Complaints
1. Introduction
At Penryn and Falmouth Funeral Directors we are committed to providing compassionate and professional services to all our clients. We value your feedback, whether it be positive or negative, as it helps us to continually improve our services. This document outlines the procedures for submitting compliments and complaints. If you are unhappy it is important you let us know immediately.
2. Paying a compliment
It is always good to know where the services we give are well received, or where a member of staff has gone above and beyond your expectations at a difficult time for you. Your compliment will be shared with the relevant member of staff and their manager.
3. Making a suggestion
Often people feel more comfortable about suggesting improvements rather than complaining formally. Anyone receiving services, and their friends/ family, may make a suggestion.
If you would like to make a suggestion, in the first instance speak to the member of staff who is looking after you and your family. This can be done in person, by calling into our office at 50 Kernick Road, Penryn, TR10 9DQ, or you can telephone us on 01326 376926. Alternatively you can write to us by email or by post.
Please ensure you include your name and contact details so that we can reach you for further discussion. We will always acknowledge your suggestion either in writing, e-mail or by telephone within 7 days.
4. Making a complaint
Who can complain
Anyone affected by the way we provide our services can make a complaint.
A representative may complain on behalf the affected person if they
• cannot make a complaint themselves, or
• have given consent for the representative to act on their behalf
If you are not happy about making a complaint yourself and you do not know someone who can talk or write to us on your behalf, we will be happy to find someone from an independent organisation to act as an advocate for you.
Where someone complains orally, we will make a written record and provide a copy of it within 3 working days.
Anonymous complaints
We deal with anonymous complaints under the same procedure; however, it is better if you can provide contact details, so we can tell you the outcome of our investigation.
How to make a complaint
In Person: Visit our office and speak directly with a manager or staff member.
By Phone: Call us at 01326 376926 and ask to speak with a manager.
In Writing:
Mail: Write to us at 50 Kernick Road, Penryn, TR10 9DQ.
Online: Visit our website at www.penrynandfalmouthfuneraldirectors.com and complete the contact form.
Please ensure you include your name and contact details so that we can reach you for further discussion.
Also, please let us have
Details of the Incident: Describe what happened, including dates, times, and names of any staff involved.
Desired Outcome: Let us know how you would like the issue to be resolved.
What Happens Next
The Company Director will initially ask one of the management team to investigate the complaint. That person will have enough seniority and experience to deal with the issues raised by the complaint.
Acknowledgment: We will acknowledge your complaint within five working days, and give you the name and contact details of the person investigating it.
Investigation: We will conduct a thorough investigation into your complaint. This may involve speaking with staff members and reviewing any relevant documentation.
We aim to have a written response to you complain within 21 working days. Where these timescales cannot be met due to the nature of the complaint or length of investigation time needed, the complainant should be kept informed in writing of this.
On completion, we will arrange to meet with you to discuss the outcome, and write to you with: details of the findings; any action we have taken; and our proposals to resolve your complaint.
We aim to handle complaints quickly, effectively and in a fair and honest way. We take all complaints seriously and use valuable information from investigating it to help us improve the service we provide. All information regarding a complaint will be handled confidentially and sensitively, informing only those who need to know, and will follow any relevant data protection requirements.
Penryn and Falmouth Funeral Directors assures clients and their families that we will not withdraw or reduce services because someone makes a complaint in good faith.
Responsibility
The Company Director has overall responsibility for dealing with all complaints made about their service.
We will provide as far as is reasonably practical:
• any help you need to understand the complaints procedure; or
• advice on where you may get that help.
5. Time limits
You should complain as soon as you can after the date on which the event occurred or came to your notice. If you complain more than 3 months later, we may not be able to investigate properly. But we shall also consider whether you had good reason for not making the complaint sooner and whether, despite the delay, it is still possible to investigate the complaint effectively and fairly.
6. Further steps
If the complaint is not resolved to the complainant’s satisfaction, the matter is to be passed to the Managing Director someone who holds a similar senior management position. A further written response from the Managing Director will then be given within fourteen working days.
Once we have dealt with your complaint as far as we feel able and provided you with our final response and you are still unhappy with our response or how we have managed your complaint, you can contact our Trade Association who will investigate your complaint and our decision. Details on how to contact them are shown below. You will also to be offered the opportunity to contact the Funeral Arbitration Scheme (FAS) and will be given the appropriate leaflet and guidance regarding this.
Penryn and Falmouth Funeral Directors are also regulated and registered members of SAIF - The National Society of Allied and Independent Funeral Directors. SAIF can be contacted at the SAIF Business Centre, 3 Bullfields, Sawbridgeworth, Herts, CM21 9DB. Telephone 01279 726777 E-mail info@saif.org.uk
Commitment to Improvement
At Penryn and Falmouth Funeral Directors, we take all feedback seriously and use it to improve our services. We thank you for taking the time to share your experiences with us.
We can provide this policy in other languages or in other formats on request.