Valuing complaints
At WICS we very much value complaints and we use information from them to help us make improvements to the way we operate.
If something has gone wrong or you are dissatisfied with our services, please tell us. You can complain to us about our action, lack of action, or about the standard of service provided by or on behalf of WICS. You should do so by following our complaints handling process. The process reflects our commitment to valuing complaints.
WICS complaints process
WICS seeks to resolve customer dissatisfaction and to conduct thorough, impartial and fair investigations of customer complaints. This helps ensure that, where appropriate, we are able to make evidence-based decisions on the facts of the case.
Our complaints process provides two opportunities to resolve complaints internally:
- frontline resolution, and
- investigation.
Frontline resolution aims to resolve your complaint as quickly as possible, providing a decision within five working days (unless there are exceptional circumstances).
If you remain dissatisfied, we will take your complaint to stage two by investigating further. We will send an acknowledgement of this within three working days and provide the decision as soon as possible thereafter, but within 20 working days.
If you have been through our complaints handling process and are not satisfied with our response, you should contact the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman (SPSO) at:
Scottish Public Services Ombudsman
FREEPOST
Alternatively, you can reach them by phone or via their website:
Telephone: 0800 377 7330
Fax: 0800 377 7331
Complaints about Scottish Water or retailers
WICS is the economic regulator for the water industry in Scotland and does not deal with individual complaints that relate to service issues. If you are dissatisfied after raising a complaint against Scottish Water or retailer, you can then raise a complaint with the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman (SPSO) for resolution.
WICS monitors the compliance of retailers with their licence conditions. If you believe that there has been a licence breach and would like to send us information, please write to us at competitionteam@wics.scot clearly explaining how the breach has occurred. We will review this information and decide whether to investigate the matter further.
We have various policies in place to support the retail market. Our licence contraventions policy sets out how WICS will investigate any retailer who is found to be in breach of their licence, while our monitoring, enforcement and penalties policy describes the monitoring activities that can be undertaken by WICS.
How WICS will use your personal data to handle your complaint
You can find out how we will use any personal information you share with us, during the course of your complaint, from our transparency statement.
How we report our complaints statistics
In line with our complaints handling process, we regularly report and publish complaints statistics. This information is reported to senior management on a quarterly basis. Our statistics for the last year is available in the table below.
| Complaint period | Complaint received | Resolved at stage 1 | Resolved at stage 2 | Main cause of complaint | Actions we’ve taken |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
2022-23, Q4 Jan - Mar |
0 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
|
2023-24, Q1 Apr - June |
0 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
|
2023-24, Q2 Jul - Sept |
1 | 0 | 1 | Dissatisfaction of WICS handling of enquiries spanning three years. | WICS has consistently provided as much advice, clarity and guidance as possible throughout the past three years to the issues raised by the complainer. WICS has acted in line with its duties to promote the interest of customers and ensure an orderly functioning of the market. |
|
2023-24, Q3 Oct - Dec |
0 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
|
2023-24, Q4 Jan - Mar |
0 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |