We want to deliver the best possible customer service to you at an affordable cost. This commitment sets out the standards of service you can expect from us, what we need from you and how you can help us improve customers’ experience.
What can you expect from us
We will:
- accept your right to complain and guarantee a full investigation and response
- act in a professional manner and know what we are talking about
- apologise when we make a mistake, put things right and learn from it
- be open and honest and explain our decisions
- encourage those who can to go online so that we can continue to support those who cannot use or access the internet
- keep our promises, keep you updated, or explain why if there is a delay
- listen to you and act on what you tell us
- maintain our libraries' advertised opening hours and give a minimum of 3 weeks' notice of any planned closures
- offer 24 hours a day, 7 days a week access to information and services through our website and an emergency only telephone service at weekends, bank holidays and weekdays (Monday to Friday, 5pm to 9am)
- resolve your query as quickly and efficiently as possible
- treat you as a valued customer, showing you and your property respect
How you can help us
So that we can deliver our promises to you, we would like you to:
- be patient with us and avoid making unnecessary repeat contact with us while you are waiting for your response
- if you can, go online as this is the quickest, most accessible and most efficient way of communicating with us
- inform us of any changes in your personal circumstances which may affect services we provide to you
- keep appointments, or try to give us at least 24 hours’ notice if you need to cancel
- supply all the evidence and documents we need to make an effective decision or take action. Without all the required documentation, we are unable to help you
- treat our staff courteously and with respect so that they can deliver the best service possible to you
We would also really like you to:
- offer ideas and suggestions for improvements and work in partnership with us, where possible
- tell us when you are pleased with our service as well as when any of these standards are not met
Measuring if we are meeting this commitment
We measure our commitment to you through a series of key performance indicators that are under constant review. These are listed below. We will report annually on our performance.
| Indicator | Performance (1 April 2018 to 31 March 2019) | Target |
|---|---|---|
| Complaints closed within 10 working days | 59% | 92% |
| Telephone contact centre – answer rate | 84% | 88% |
| Telephone contact centre telephones – average wait time | 4 minutes 22 seconds | 3 minutes |
| Telephone Council Tax and benefits – answer rate | 93% | 88% |
| Telephone Council Tax and benefits – average wait time | 51 seconds | 3 minutes |
| Percentage of calls answered within 5 minutes | 83% | 97% |
| Customer satisfaction with webchat | 81% | 80% |
| Freedom of Information requests answered within 20 working days | 73% | 100% |
| Members enquiries – answered within 8 working days | 76% | 95% |
| Satisfaction with leisure centre users | 77% | 77% |
Unacceptable behaviour
Unacceptable customer behaviour includes:
- being under the influence of controlled drugs or alcohol
- damage to our or staff owned property
- physical violence
- threats of any kind (threatening behaviour or intimidation)
- verbal abuse, including racist, sexist or discriminatory comments
- vexatious complaints and harassment
We keep records of unacceptable customer behaviour and this may result in your access to services being changed. In addition, we may prosecute you or share this information with partner organisations (subject to the requirements of the Data Protection Act).