Complaints Procedure

1. Definitions and Interpretation

1.1 In this Complaints Handling Procedure the following expressions have the following meanings:

2. What this Complaints Handling Procedure Covers

2.1 This Complaints Handling Procedure applies to Complaints pertaining to the sale of goods and the provision of services by us, to our customer service and to our employees or subcontractors.

2.2 For the purposes of this Complaints Handling Procedure, any reference to us, XD Retail LLP or Xtra Dog also includes our employees or subcontractors.

2.3 Complaints may relate to any of our activities and may include (but not be limited to):

2.3.1 The quality of our customer service;
2.3.2 The behaviour and/or professional competence of our employees or subcontractors;
2.3.3 Delays, defects or other problems associated with the sale of goods;
2.3.4 Delays, defects, poor workmanship or other problems associated with the provision of services;

2.4 The following do not constitute Complaints. Customers raising such questions or matters should be directed to the appropriate person:

2.4.1 General questions about our goods and services;
2.4.2 Returns of damaged, faulty, incorrect or unwanted goods for exchange or refund in accordance with our Sale of Goods Terms and Conditions where there is no further complaint;
2.4.3 Matters concerning contractual or other legal disputes;
2.4.4 Formal requests for the disclosure of information including, but not limited to, those made under the Data Protection Act;

3. Receipt and Recording of Complaints

3.1 Customers may make Complaints using any of the following methods:

3.1.1 In writing, addressed to Complaints, Kings Offices, 2 Millers Lane, Costock, LE12 6XJ, UK;
3.1.2 To Customer Services via Our Contact Form;
3.1.3 By contacting us by telephone on 0330 088 3647.

3.2 Upon receipt of Complaints, the following steps shall be taken within 21 Business Days:

3.2.1 If a written Complaint is received by post, The Customer Services Manager shall add the complaint to our complaints system;
3.2.2 If a written Complaint is received by email, The Customer Services Manager shall add the complaint to our complaints system;
3.2.3 If a Complaint is made by telephone, The Customer Services Manager shall add the complaint to our complaints system.

3.3 All Complaints shall be given a Complaint Reference and the investigation thereof shall begin within 21 Business Days.

3.4 All Complaints shall be acknowledged in writing within 28 Business Days of receipt. The acknowledgement shall inform the Customer of their Complaint Reference, by whom their Complaint is to be handled, and shall include links to our Customer Complaint Policy and this Complaints Handling Procedure.

4. Complaint Information

4.1 Customers are advised in our Complaints Policy that the following information should be provided in as much detail as is reasonably possible when making a Complaint:

4.1.1 The Customer’s name, address, telephone number and email address, indicating any preferred method of communication;
4.1.2 If the Customer is being represented by a third party, the information set out in Section 4.1.1 should be provided in reference to both parties;
4.1.3 If the Complaint relates to a particular transaction, the order number;
4.1.4 If the Complaint relates to a particular employee or subcontractor, the name and, where appropriate, position of that employee or subcontractor;
4.1.5 Further details of the Complaint including, as appropriate, all times, dates, events, and people involved;
4.1.6 Details of any documents or other evidence on which the Customer wishes to rely in support of the Complaint;

Details of how the Customer would like XD Retail LLP to resolve the Complaint. Whilst we undertake to make all reasonable efforts to accommodate such requests, we are not bound to take any action beyond that which we may be contractually or otherwise legally obliged to take.

4.2 If the information detailed in Section 4.1 is missing, insufficiently detailed, or incomplete, the Customer should be contacted within 21 Business Days, requesting further information.

5. Complaints Handling

5.1 All staff members are qualified and eligible to handle Complaints:

5.2 Upon receipt of a Complaint, the Complaint shall be considered and a decision made within 21 Business Days whether to:

5.2.1 Investigate the Complaint fully if it is considered to be valid, in which case the procedure should resume from Section 5.3; or
5.2.2 Dismiss the Complaint if it is considered to be invalid, in which case the Customer shall be informed of the decision in writing within 28 Business Days.

5.3 Subject to delays arising from circumstances beyond the reasonable control of the staff member handling the Complaint (including, but not limited to, delays in other persons responding to communications), Complaints shall be fully investigated and decided upon within 60 Business Days.

5.4 If the Complaint relates to (a) particular employee(s) or subcontractor(s) (a “Complainee” or “Complainees”), the Complainee(s) in question shall be informed of the Complaint and meetings or telephone calls shall be arranged as required to discuss the Complaint. In such cases, the Complainee(s) should not, under any circumstances, contact the Customer directly regarding the Complaint. If the Customer contacts the Complainee(s) directly regarding the Complaint (which they are requested not to do in our Complaints Policy), the Complainee(s) should respectfully refuse to discuss the matter, referring the Customer to Section 5.4 of our Complaints Policy. Any such contact should be reported to the staff member handling the Complaint.

5.5 If additional information or evidence in support of the Complaint is required, the Customer shall be contacted using the Customer’s preferred method of communication, stating clearly what information or evidence is required. Customers should be respectfully reminded that any delay in their response to such a request may delay the resolution of their Complaint, as per Section 5.5 of our Complaints Policy.

5.6 If a Customer is unable or unwilling to provide information or evidence requested under Section 5.5, reasonable endeavours shall nevertheless be used to resolve the Complaint. If, however, it is not possible to uphold the Complaint in the absence of the requested information or evidence, the Complaint may be closed and the Customer informed of the outcome in accordance with Sections 5.9 to 5.12.

5.7 The Complaint shall be examined and evaluated, taking full account of all relevant statements, information, evidence and circumstances. Full objectivity and fairness shall be maintained at all times.

5.8 Following examination of the Complaint, a decision shall be reached within the time period set out in Section 5.3 (subject to the exceptions noted therein). Resolution Actions that may be chosen are set out in Section 6.

5.9 Once a decision has been made, Investigation Reports and Recommendations shall be reviewed by The Customer Services Manager within 14 Business Days before the Customer may be informed of the outcome.

5.10 Once a decision has been reached under Section 5.9, an Investigation Report and Decision Letter shall be sent to the Customer by first class post or by email, as appropriate. Decision Letters shall set out the decision and the Resolution Action(s).

6. Implementation of Resolution Actions

Upon the conclusion of a Complaint, the Resolution Action(s) settled upon shall require implementation in a timely manner. Responsibility for the implementation of Resolution Actions ultimately lies with The Customer Services Manager.

7. Recording of Resolution Actions

7.1 Upon the conclusion of a Complaint and the implementation of the applicable Resolution Action(s), shall be logged in the complaints system.

8. Confidentiality and Data Protection

8.1 All Complaints, Appeals, evidence and other information gathered, held and processed under this Complaints Handling Procedure shall be treated with the utmost confidence at all times. Such information may be shared with employees or subcontractors of XD Retail LLP only to the extent required to resolve the Complaint in question in accordance with this Complaints Handling Procedure.

8.2 In the event that the details of a Complaint are to be used for training or quality improvement purposes, in which case they may be shared with other employees or subcontractors of XD Retail LLP beyond the scope of this Complaints Handling Procedure, the relevant Customer’s express permission must first be sought using that Customer’s preferred contact method. Personal details (that is, anything that may be used to identify the Customer) shall be removed from all information so used. Such permission may be revoked at any time in accordance with the Customer’s right to do so under Section 6.2 of our Customer Complaints Policy.

8.3 All personal information collected by us (including, but not limited to, Customers’ names and contact details) shall only be collected, used and held in accordance with the provisions of the Data Protection Act 1998 and our Customers’ rights under that Act, as detailed and embodied in our Data Protection Policy.

9. Procedure Review and Responsibility

9.1 Overall responsibility for this Complaints Handling Procedure and the implementation thereof lies with The Customer Services Manager.

9.2 This Complaints Handling Procedure shall be reviewed regularly at intervals of not more than 5 years and shall be updated as required.

9.3 This Complaints Handling Procedure was adopted on 21 ^st November 2013.

9.4 This Complaints Handling Procedure was last reviewed on 31 ^st January 2018.