You can complain about things like:

• failure or refusal to provide a service
• our standard of service
• dissatisfaction with one of our policies
• failure to follow proper procedure
• conduct, treatment by or attitude of a member of staff.

Your complaint may involve more than one service or be about someone working on our behalf.

There are some things we can’t deal with through our complaints handling procedure. These include:

• a routine first-time request for a service, for example a request for a more frequent bus service on a subsidised local bus route
• a first-time report of a fault
• requests for compensation only
• issues that are in court or have already been heard by a court or a tribunal
• Freedom of Information or Environmental Information request decisions.

If other procedures or rights of appeal can help you resolve your concerns, we will give information and advice to help you.

Normally, you must make your complaint within six months of the event.

However, if you do not find out that you have a reason to complain until later, you can lodge a complaint up to 12 months after the event itself.

In exceptional circumstances we may be able to accept a complaint after the time limit. If you feel that the time limit should not apply to your complaint, please tell us why.

There may be reasons why you are unable, or reluctant, to make a complaint yourself. We can take complaints from a friend, relative, or an advocate, if you have given them your consent to complain for you.

You can find out about advocates in your area by contacting the Scottish Independent Advocacy Alliance.

If you wish to make a complaint please contact us using the details below. Please tell us about the issue so we can investigate. Include relevant details such as

• • date, time, and location of any incident,
  • bus service number
  • Subway Station or Bus Station
  • travel card applicant’s name and address
  • description of anyone involved, including yourself, so we can identify the right individuals

E-mail us at:

complaint@spt.co.uk

Write to us at:

Complaints
Strathclyde Partnership for Transport
131 St Vincent Street
Glasgow
G2 5JF

Opening hours:

Monday: 08:30 – 16:45
Tuesday: 08:30 – 16:45
Wednesday: 08:30 – 16:45
Thursday: 08:30 – 16:45
Friday: 08:30 – 16:00
Saturday: Closed
Sunday: Closed

We will share complaint information with staff members or operators when investigating. We will not share your name or contact details but it may be possible to identify you from the substance of the complaint. If you are complaining on behalf of someone else you are confirming that the person is happy for you to act for them on this matter.

We will always tell you who is dealing with your complaint.

Our complaints handling procedure has two stages:

Stage 1 Frontline Resolution

We aim to resolve complaints quickly and close to where we provided the service. This could mean an on-the-spot apology and explanation if something has clearly gone wrong and immediate action to resolve the problem.

We will give you our decision at stage one, in five working days or less, unless there are exceptional circumstances.

In exceptional circumstances, a short extension of time may be necessary. If that is necessary, we will tell you the reasons for the extension, and when you can expect a response. The maximum extension that can be granted is five working days (that is, no more than ten working days in total from the date of receipt).

If we can’t resolve your complaint at this stage, we will explain why and tell you what you can do next. We might suggest that you take your complaint to stage two. You may choose to do this immediately or sometime after you get our initial decision.

Stage 2 Investigation

Stage two deals with two types of complaint: those that have not been resolved at stage one; and those that are complex and require a detailed investigation.

When using stage two we will:

• Acknowledge receipt of your complaint within three working days. Where the points of complaint and the outcome sought are clear, we will confirm our understanding of these when acknowledging your complaint
• We may contact you to discuss your complaint. This will happen if we need additional details from you to understand why you remain dissatisfied and what outcome you are looking for.
• Give you a full response to the complaint as soon as possible and within 20 working days.

If our investigation will take longer than 20 working days, we will tell you. We will agree revised time limits with you and keep you updated on progress.

If you are still dissatisfied with our decision or the way we dealt with your complaint, you can ask the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman (SPSO) to look at it.

The SPSO’s contact details are:

SPSO
Bridgeside House
99 McDonald Road
Edinburgh
EH7 4NS.

Their freepost address is FREEPOST SPSO.

Freephone: 0800 377 7330

Online contact: www.spso.org.uk/contact-us

Website: www.spso.org.uk

Complaints Handling Procedure Customer Guide

SPT publishes complaints data quarterly and annually in line with SPSO requirements. Complaints are reported quarterly to SPT's Operations Committee.