Introduction
Vexil Lays great emphasis on the prompt and effective action on the complaints/Feedback (received by Vexil from a Vexil client against its services/ personnel or by a third party against a Vexil certified client). The objective is to maintain integrity of management system certification and reputation of Vexil. The Managing Director/Directors take personal interest and monitor the complaints handling process.
Process
i) On receipt of any complaint, it is first recorded in a Complaints Register and a complaint number is assigned for the complaint. At this stage, it is confirmed whether the complaint is against Vexil certification activities or the complaint relates to a certified client.
ii) In case of an anonymous complaint, or inadequate description, the MD will reserve the right of dealing with the complaint as deemed fit.
ii) Whenever possible, the complaint is acknowledged (letter by courier/ fax/ email or alternatively spoken on phone) within five working days of receipt of complaint, informing the complaint number, with a request to refer the number in all future communications, and complainant is informed of the progress report.
iii) An employee of Vexil is assigned the complaint investigation work by MD and complaint details are forwarded to him. Care is taken not to assign those who have been directly involved in designing, implementing and maintaining quality systems (consulting and/or other services) towards the organization, or any other party involved in the complaint.
iv) If the complaint is against Vexil certified Client:
The assigned person may decide to plan a visit to the client against whom complaint is received combining his visit with the surveillance audit. If required surveillance visit can be pre-poned. The visit may wait till normal surveillance time depending on the nature of complaint.
During complaint investigation, it shall be checked whether that particular complaint (If already in the knowledge of the client) has been registered by the client, dealt in accordance with their complaint handling system and what actions have been taken. If the actions taken are considered satisfactory, then a report is prepared and complainant informed accordingly. If not, minor or major non-conformity may be raised and corrective action plan asked for, as in case of non-conformity identified during audit. If the corrective actions taken on such nonconformity are found to be ineffective/ not satisfactory, the process of suspension/withdrawal of the certificate shall be initiated.
During the process of investigation, the client shall also be informed of the complaint
(keeping in mind the confidentiality requirement above).
v) If the complaint is against Vexil certification activities:
The complaint shall be forwarded to the reporting officer of the person (Investigating officer) responsible for the activity/person against which/whom complaint has been received who will ask him his views on the complaint.
Investigating officer shall look into the root cause for the complaint and decide whether it is a regular feature or one time incident and whether it was intentional or unintentional.
He/She may also ask for views of Vexil employee against whom the complaint has been made.
Investigating officer will also consider how the deficiency leading to complaint can be removed (by training/ counseling/ providing resources etc) and recommend actions accordingly which shall be reviewed in management review.
In case of complaint against Vexil personnel, suitable action, which may include dismissal may be taken.
vi) The outcome of any complaint shall be reviewed and approved by Managing Director/Director (not previously involved in the subject of the complaint) before communicating to the complainant.
After taking actions, the complainant shall be informed about the actions taken and complaint shall be closed. Whenever possible, Vexil shall give formal notice of the end of the complaints handling process to the complainant.
Together with the client and the complainant, it shall be determined whether and, if so to what extent, the subject of the complaint and its resolution shall be made public.
Any corrective action needed on the findings of Complaint as recommended by investigating authority shall be taken and followed up for its effectiveness.
vii) All records related to a complaint are kept as per the defined system.
viii) In addition to above, customer feed back received (formal/ informal) are recorded in the same register and action taken, if any, are recorded.
ix) In case the complainant is not satisfied with the resolution of the complaint, the complainant may refer the complaint to accreditation board. Alternatively an appeal can be filed to MD of Vexil within a period of 30 days from the issue of final closure letter of the complaint (the same shall be dealt in accordance with the procedure P-2202 Handling of Appeals).
In case the complaints are not closed out within a timeframe documented and agreed with the complainant, the complainant is free to escalate the complaint to MD/Directors of Vexil to ensure that the complaint receives the appropriate priority. Complaints that are not closed out within 3 months of the agreed timeframe can be brought to the attention of accreditation board.
x) All the information regarding the client from sources other than the client (for example, complainant, regulators) shall be kept confidential. Similarly Information regarding the complainant/subject is kept confidential unless authorized by the complainant.