Customer complaints policy

Our Responsibilities

• To provide a structured and fair mechanism for handling a complaint
• To provide our customers with access to the complaints handling process
• To keep customers informed regarding the progress of a complaint at all stages
• To advise customers of the timeframe for the resolution of a complaint
• A register of complaints will be reviewed regularly by the management team to continue to improve quality and service

We will be providing assistance by way of a number of self-serve options to try and resolve registration issues. If these do not resolve an issue in an accurate and efficient way, within our SLAs then a complaint may be lodged so that we can triage a case for appropriate and swift resolution. 

An individual may make a complaint if they feel we have failed to provide an acceptable level of service or has failed to act in a proper way. We will do our best to resolve the issue raised as soon as possible.

Complaint handling

We will acknowledge a complaint within 5 working days by telephone, email or mail.  We will then provide a substantive follow up response in writing within 20 working days from the date of the acknowledgement.  

The following process will be followed:

• Step 1: receiving the complaint – written acknowledgement, complaint passed to relevant team for action
• Step 2: assessing the complaint – to identify issue e.g. paperwork not processed, not received, IT issue, Kennel Club awaiting paperwork or information or another issue
• Step 3: investigating the complaint – is the issue a failure on the part of the Kennel Club, and what can be done to rectify and ensure no reoccurrence
• Step 4: resolving the complaint – contacting complainant to resolve the issue and providing documentation or other service as required

If the complaint covers multiple workstreams/department input then it may take longer to resolve whilst the information is collected.  In these cases, we will provide regular updates on the progress being made and provide a timeframe for resolution.  We may escalate and expedite complaints in appropriate circumstances.

We will advise a complainant of the outcome of a complaint in writing, complete any outstanding transactions and send any relevant paperwork or advise on the timeline for completion of transaction as may be appropriate.

How to contact us

Below you can find various ways to contact each area of The Kennel Club. 

Monitoring and learning from complaints  

As well as learning from each individual complaint, The Kennel Club will maintain a complaints register to identify trends which will help us to improve our services with corrective and preventative measures.