When you write to us
We will:
- Reply to your letter, fax or email within 10 working days;
- Let you know if we can't give a full reply within 10 working days, and explain why;
- Use language that is easy to read and understand;
- Try to provide information in the best format for you, such as in large print, in
another language, or on audio disk.
At all times
We will:
- Be polite and helpful;
- Treat everyone fairly and with respect;
- Respond quickly to your enquiries;
- Listen to you and ask for your views about our services;
- Make it clear what we can and cannot do;
- Give information in ways you find easy to understand;
- Not keep you waiting without an explanation; and
- Admit when we have made mistakes and try to put things right.
When you visit or call us
We will:
- Open our main offices in Sutton Coldfield, Atherstone and Kidderminster from
8.30am to 5pm Monday to Thursday and 8.30am to 4.30pm on Friday;
- Open our estate office at Parkfields in Castle Bromwich from 9am to 3pm Monday
to Friday;
- Open our Home Ownership Department office in Sutton Coldfield from 9am to 4.30pm
Monday to Friday;
- Provide a phone service for emergency repairs outside our opening times;
- Make sure that our offices contain up-to-date information on our services;
- Provide offices that are as accessible as possible for people with disabilities.
When you want an appointment
We will:
- Arrange an appointment at our offices or in your home;
- Make the appointment for a time to suit you;
- Tell you as soon as possible if we cannot keep the appointment; and
- Arrange for a signer or translator, if you let us know you need this before your
appointment.
When you visit our offices
We will:
- Greet you straightaway;
- See you within five minutes of your appointment time;
- Try to see you within 15 minutes if you do not have an appointment;
- Offer you a private interview room, where available.
When we visit you at home
We will:
- Be on time or, if delayed, call you to let you know when we will arrive;
- Show you suitable identification;
- Explain the reason for the visit;
- Respect your home and all reasonable customs; and
- Leave a card if you are out, telling you how to contact us;
When you make a complaint
We will:
- Thank you for your complaint within five working days of receiving it;
- Investigate and reply to your complaint within 10 working days;
- Tell you how to take the complaint further if you are not satisfied;
- Monitor complaints to help us learn from them and improve our services.
When you give us information
We will:
- Treat all information we hold about you sensitively and in confidence;
- Work to make sure the information we hold about you is correct;
- Only hold information about you that is important to our work;
- Let you look at your tenancy file after 10 working days of receiving a request
from you; and
- Work within the rules of the Data Protection Act.
When you want information from us
We will:
- Provide information which is useful and easy to understand;
- Write in plain English with no jargon;
- Publish information leaflets about our services and policies, available free
at our offices, on our website or if you ask;
- Send a newsletter to you every three months if you are a Waterloo tenant and an
annual report to you once a year;
- Produce other residents' newsletters, when you ask or when we have new information
to give you; and
- Keep our website up to date with information.
What can you do to help us?
Your responsibilities to help us achieve these standards include:
- Being polite when speaking to us;
- Paying your rent on time;
- Taking reasonable care of your home;
- Reporting to us quickly any repairs we are responsible for;
- Giving us access to your home to carry out repairs or safety checks;
- Repairing quickly the things you are responsible for;
- Behaving in a responsible way towards your neighbours and other people;
- Keeping appointments we make with you, or telling us before if you can't keep it;
- Reading the information we send you; and
- Giving information we ask you for, when we need it.
What do you think?
We've published our customer service standards to make it clear what you can expect
from us.
They let you know what you should expect, so you can measure the quality of the service
you receive.
We will regularly check our performance on meeting these standards. This includes
asking our customers for their views. For example:
- Are our customer service standards useful?
- How could they be improved?
We are working on specific standards for all our services, such as carrying out
repairs and collecting rent. You can help by telling us:
- the sort of information you would find useful; and
- the quality of service you expect.
Use our feedback form to let us know.