Managing Customer Relations Policy

We are keen to build a mutually supportive and respectful relationship with our customers, helping to improve their experience, whilst understanding the issue they are seeking support for. We accept that some customers may act out of character in times of trouble or distress or may be known to the council for related issues (these will be recorded on B-Safe). In addition, disabled customers might require additional support to interact with the council.

We always aim to provide the best levels of support possible, and we expect our customers to behave appropriately (according to their abilities), treating our staff with courtesy and consideration as they carry out their work. In a very small number of cases some customers behave or act in ways that can cause emotional or physical harm to employees making it difficult for us to deal with their query or request effectively.

Unreasonable demands

Some examples we would consider might make unreasonable demands on the council and its employees are:

• the amount of information a customer seeks
• the nature and scale of service a customer expects
• the volume of correspondence a customer generates

We understand and accept that persistence is not necessarily a form of unreasonable behaviour and can form a valid part of an interaction. What amounts to unreasonable, will depend on the circumstances of the contacts being made after all reasonable and proportionate attempts have been made to resolve the matter.

Customers who are unable to accept a final decision taken in relation to their query, or who persistently contact us about the same issue after all available support has been offered, can take up a disproportionate amount of time and resources, affecting our ability to provide a service to other customers.

Unreasonable behaviour or actions

Some examples of behaviour or actions we would consider unreasonable might be where a customer is:

• using rude or offensive language despite previously being asked to refrain from using such language
• demanding responses in an unreasonable time after a clear and reasonable timescale has been agreed
• refusing to cooperate with a necessary process
• refusing to accept that certain issues are not the council’s responsibility or something we can deal with - for example, in cases where a customer should go through a legal process such as a court or another body that has power over the matter
• insisting their query is dealt with in ways that go against our procedures
• making unjustified allegations, accusations or complaints about staff who are trying to deal with their enquiry
• repeatedly trying to get staff dealing with them, or their case, replaced
• contacting us repeatedly about the same or similar issues when we have already given them all the information or advice we can
• making unreasonable demands on the time and resources of staff - this would be something like excessive phone calls or detailed emails and letters every few days
• repeating queries with minor additions or variations that are not enough to start a ‘new’ query or process
• arguing points already responded to with no new evidence
• changing the main point of a query as the case proceeds
• changing or denying statements made at an earlier stage of a case (aside from when this is a genuine mistake)
• raising lots of detailed questions that are not related to their query or case
• recording (photo, film or audio) face-to-face interactions with staff, meetings and telephone conversations without lawful basis for doing so and without seeking consent to proceed

Aggressive or abusive behaviour

Some examples of behaviour or actions we would consider aggressive or abusive (written or verbal) that we consider might cause employees to feel intimidated, offended, bullied, or harassed are:

• making threats against the council, our staff or any third parties allowed to act on our behalf
• threatening emails and telephone calls
• inappropriate comments on social media
• inappropriate banter, including innuendo
• malicious allegations
• any form of physical violence or threats of physical violence
• derogatory racial, sexist, ageist, or homophobic remarks
• comments relating to disability, perceived gender, religion, belief, or any other protected characteristic

Also see

• Customer service standards
• Our customer centre
• The Council Plan