大象传媒

Changes introduced to the 大象传媒鈥檚 complaints system have led to progress in the way complaints have been handled during the last two years, a review commissioned by the 大象传媒 Trust has found.听 However, improvements are still needed to the quality of email responses to complainants.

A 鈥榤ystery shopping鈥� exercise was commissioned by the Trust from research company ICM between June and September 2013.听 The exercise tracked complaints at the first stage of the 大象传媒鈥檚 complaints process and assessed how quickly they were responded to, how well they were handled, and levels of satisfaction with the responses, compared with 2011. 492 complaints were designed to resemble realistic and genuine complaints that the 大象传媒 has received, and were submitted and tracked through the system.

The exercise follows changes to the 大象传媒鈥檚 complaints process introduced in 2012 to make the system 鈥榝aster, simpler and easier to understand鈥�.

The ICM research found that complaints made via webform or letter were responded to much more quickly than in 2011, with 98 per cent of complaints submitted via webform receiving a response within 10 working days, up from 60 per cent in 2011. In addition, the average response time to these complaints was around three to six days, significantly less than the 10-day target. For letters, 83 per cent were responded to within 16 working days, up from 62 per cent. For complaints by phone, 92 per cent were completed within five minutes, down slightly on 2011 (95 per cent).听

However, there has been a reduction in satisfaction levels with the content of responses to complaints made by webform, with 60 per cent 鈥榚xtremely satisfied鈥� or 鈥榮atisfied鈥� compared with 71 per cent in 2011.听 The Trust has welcomed the Executive鈥檚 plans to work on improving the content of responses in 2014.

Satisfaction with the content of responses to complaints significantly improved in other areas, with 80 per cent of telephone complainants and 87 per cent of letter complainants 鈥榚xtremely satisfied鈥� or 鈥榮atisfied鈥� with the response received, compared with 48 per cent and 68 per cent in 2011.听

The actual process of complaining was also tested, and levels of satisfaction with this have improved across all three channels 鈥� webform, telephone and letter 鈥� although satisfaction with the process of complaining by webform is lowest, at 57 per cent.

Other areas for improvement identified by the review included the handling of a small number of complaints from people with a disability or special requirements, and the handling of complaints sent to independent production companies or 大象传媒 programme areas rather than the central complaints hub, as some of these went unanswered.听

大象传媒 Trustee and chair of the Trust鈥檚 Complaints and Appeals Board, Richard Ayre, said:

鈥淭he 大象传媒鈥檚 programmes and services are loved by millions, but with that comes disappointment and anger if licence fee payers feel that their favourite programme has got something wrong.听 Those who feel strongly enough to complain deserve a response that is fast, appropriate and well handled, and the 大象传媒 should be commended for the improvements made so far.听

鈥淥ne area the Trust now expects the Executive to focus on is driving up satisfaction with email replies, particularly as three quarters of complaints to the 大象传媒 are now made via the internet.听 We will continue to push for improvements in this area and others.鈥�

Notes to Editors

听1. More information on how the 大象传媒鈥檚 complaints process works can听be found here.听

2. 听The mystery shopping exercise conducted by ICM tested complaints handling at stage 1 of the 大象传媒鈥檚 complaints process, which is the first contact a complainant has with the 大象传媒 when they make a complaint.听 Complainants unhappy with the response at stage 1 can complain to the 大象传媒 Editorial Complaints Unit (ECU) which investigates editorial complaints as stage 2 of the process.听 The ECU is not in a programme making division of the 大象传媒 and is independent of programme makers.听 Complainants unhappy with the response to their complaint at stage 2 can appeal to the Trust, which is the final arbiter for complaints in the 大象传媒.

3. The 大象传媒 received 217,532 complaints in 2012/13 at stage 1.听 Of these, 500 progressed to Stage 2 of the complaints process, and of these, 285 appealed to the Trust at stage 3.

4. 听The cost of the ICM study was 拢40,000.