Complaints

Making Music aims to provide high quality service to everyone it works with but accepts that we might not always meet these standards. If this does happen, we are committed to giving people the right to raise their concerns and to addressing them. 

  • Making Music recognises that any individual or organisation has the right to raise a complaint about their work and interactions with Making Music. 
  • Making Music takes all complaints seriously and will investigate them to understand what happened and work towards a resolution. 
  • When dealing with a complaint and anyone who makes one, we will always act in in line with our values: 
    • We are respectful of everyone we connect with
    • We listen, we care, we are always learning
    • We are transparent and value the trust we earn
    • We share and collaborate generously
    • We do what we say we’re going to do
    • We are facilitators; we empower
  • Making Music believes complaints should be used in a positive way to help us improve how we work. 
  • Making Music does not believe that all complaints are justified. 

Objectives of this page

  • Ensure members of Making Music and other stakeholders know how to make a complaint. 
  • Provide a clear framework for complaint handling so that: 
    • Complaints are handled in a fair and consistent manner 
    • Staff, trustees and volunteers know how to handle a complaint 
    • Anyone making a complaint knows what to expect and what should happen
    • Complaints are used to improve our performance 

Definition

A complaint is an expression of concern or belief that something is unsatisfactory. The complaint is the expression itself, whether or not the concern or belief is justified. 

A complaint against Making Music could relate to (but is not limited to):

  • Dissatisfaction with service delivery 
  • Unfair access to, or delivery of, services 
  • Dissatisfaction with the nature or standard of communication 
  • Mis-use of personal data 
  • Making Music failing to meet its values

Types of complaint

Making Music takes all complaints seriously, but we think it is important to acknowledge there are degrees of seriousness. We hope that most complaints can be resolved quickly and informally but acknowledge some might require a formal process.    

a) Feedback
Making Music welcomes feedback from stakeholders but think it is important to not confuse feedback with complaints. Where feedback is received without a specific complaint, we will acknowledge the feedback and ensure it is passed to the relevant person so the feedback can be reviewed and considered. We will not necessarily contact the person beyond initial acknowledgement of the feedback. 

b) Informal complaints
Anyone can raise a complaint informally to the Membership Services Team either by email or over the telephone. 

Informal complaints will be referred to the relevant Manager within Making Music. They will either:  

  • Escalate the complaint to a Senior Manager 
  • Respond in writing within 5 working days: 
    • the response will address all issues raised, provide an explanation about what happened and offer a resolution. 
    • if a complainant is not happy with the response they can move to a formal complaints process. 

c) Formal complaints
Anyone can raise a formal complaint at any time, they do not have to raise them informally first. Formal complaints must be raised in writing to the Deputy CEO (Membership and Business Development). 

If the complaint relates to the Deputy CEO (Membership and Business Development), it can be raised with the CEO 

See ‘Process for formal complaints handling’ below for more details 

d) Insurance complaints
Any complaint relating to our insurance services and work as Appointed Representative of Finch should be made directly to Finch. See our Insurance FAQ called 'How do I make a complaint?'.

Making a complaint

We ask anyone making a complaint to; 

  • provide as much detail as they can about what has happened 
  • be clear about what they are dissatisfied with 
  • communicate their concerns fairly, politely and appropriately. 

We also welcome suggestions of what we could have done differently. 

Process for formal complaints handling 

Once a formal complaint been raised Making Music will acknowledge it within two working days. 

We will aim to investigate and respond within 10 working days. For more complex complaints this time frame might need to be extended. This will be communicated within 10 working days and new timeline established. 

a) Stage one: investigation
The person the complaint was raised with will conduct an investigation to establish the facts. This might include discussions with the person who has raised the complaint and other connected people to understand what has happened. 

The complaint will be investigated fully and objectively.

b) Stage two: consideration
After the investigation has finished, the person leading it will write a report and discuss it with at least one other senior manager or trustees who is not directly involved.

The aim of this is to decide 

  • If the complaint is justified and should be upheld 
  • If compensation should be offered 
  • What changes need to be made to avoid the same or similar situation arising. Such as reviewing of policies, staff training or appropriate improvement to our services.

c) Stage three: Response

A full response will be sent in writing to the person making the complaint. The response will be based on the investigation consideration stages. It will include 

  • A report of the investigation and explanation of what happened 
  • In the case of upheld complaint:
    • An apology 
    • An offer of compensation if deemed appropriate 
    • Details of action we will take to avoid future occurrences 
  • In the case of complaints are not upheld a detailed explanation of our reasoning will be provided 

d)    Stage four: appeal
If a complainant is unhappy with the outcome of a complaint they can appeal the decision. Appeals must be lodged in writing and within one month of the complaint response. 

The appeal should include:  

  • the nature of the original complaint
  • the steps already taken, and the response received 
  • a statement about why you remain dissatisfied.

Where the response is from the Deputy CEO appeals should be made to the CEO.

Where the response is from the CEO appeals can be made with the Chair of the Board of trustees.

We will aim to respond in full within 20 working days. If this will not be possible, we will response within 10 working days establish a new timeline 

The CEO or Chair will review all the information held relating to your complaint. 

  • If they think the initial investigation was sufficient, they will respond with an explanation of how they have reached that decision 
  • If they think the initial investigation was insufficient, they will conduct another investigation, consideration and response process, following the stage process as set out above.  

In both cases if the person making the complaint / appeal is still unsatisfied they can lodge a further appeal using the external appeal options below.

e)    External appeal options: 
If complainants are still unhappy after our final appeal response, they can contact one of the below external regulators 

If complainants might also consider a solicitor or the Citizens Advice Bureau

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