Complaints and Appeals

Our commitment

Complaints are handled under our documented complaints procedure, part of the management system accredited by UKAS to ISO/IEC 17025. Every complaint is acknowledged within one Business Day and answered in writing within 10 Business Days, and every one is seen by our senior management team.

This page explains how to raise a complaint, how to dispute a test result or an invoice, what we do with your complaint, and how to appeal if you are not satisfied with our answer.

How to raise a complaint

Please put your complaint in writing to Client Services. A telephone call first is welcome: we will write up what you tell us and send it back to you to confirm, so that we both have a clear record of what was raised and when.

• Email  team@theomegagroup.co.uk
• Post  Client Services, The Omega Group (Operations) Limited, Units 18–19 Baird Close, Drayton Fields Industrial Estate, Daventry, Northamptonshire, NN11 8RY
• Telephone  01327 552077, Monday to Friday, 9:00 am to 5:00 pm

What to include

Your name, company and contact details; the job, report, sample or invoice reference; what happened and when; and the outcome you are looking for. The more precise the reference, the faster we can pull the record.

What happens next

1. Acknowledgement, within one Business Day. We confirm we have your complaint, give you a reference and the name of the person handling it, and confirm whether it relates to our laboratory or site testing work.
2. Recording. The complaint is logged in our management system, where its status is maintained until it is closed.
3. Review. Our Quality Manager reviews the merits of the complaint and decides the appropriate course of action.
4. Investigation, with an update every 5 Business Days. We gather and check the facts: the records for the work in question, the test data, and the people involved. Where something has gone wrong, we take corrective action, and preventive action where it could happen again. You hear from us at least every 5 Business Days while the complaint is open.
5. Written outcome, within 10 Business Days. We write to you with what we found, what we have done about it, and anything we are changing as a result. The outcome is decided, or reviewed and approved, by someone who was not involved in the work you complained about. If the investigation needs longer, for example to test a further specimen, we tell you why and give you a new date before the 10 days are up.
6. Closure. When the matter is resolved we tell you in writing that the complaint is closed, and how to appeal if you disagree with the outcome.

Disputing a test result

If you believe a result we have reported is wrong, raise it with Client Services as soon as you can, quoting the report and sample references.

A reported result is reviewed against the complete record held for that specimen, from receipt and curing through to the test data recorded at the time of the test. If the review shows an error, the report is formally amended and reissued, and the amendment is identified as such. If the review supports the original result, we explain why, with the evidence.

Disputing a result does not change it. Results are only ever changed through a documented amendment, so that every report we issue can be relied on by everyone who receives it.

Disputing an invoice

Invoice disputes follow clause 35 of our Terms and Conditions of Business:

• Notify Client Services in writing within seven Business Days of the invoice date, stating the invoice number and the grounds for the dispute.
• Any undisputed portion remains payable by the due date stated on the invoice.
• Amounts under genuine dispute are not referred for debt collection while we review them.
• Any amount confirmed as payable after the review is due within seven Business Days of our written decision.

Appealing our decision

If you do not agree with our written outcome, you can appeal. Reply to the outcome within 20 Business Days, saying which part you disagree with and why.

• We acknowledge your appeal within one Business Day.
• The appeal is reviewed by the Managing Director, or another senior person who had no part in the original work or the original decision. They look again at the complaint, the investigation and our response.
• You receive a final written decision within 10 Business Days, with the reasons for it.

Escalating to UKAS

Our laboratory is accredited by the United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS), laboratory No. 7644. If you believe we have not met the requirements of our accreditation, and we have had the opportunity to investigate and respond, you may escalate your complaint to UKAS: see Complaints and Appeals on ukas.com. UKAS asks that you complain to us first, and financial disputes and matters of contract fall outside its remit.

Confidentiality and impartiality

Complaints are handled in confidence. We share the details only with the people who need them to investigate and respond, and we do not disclose that a complaint has been made to anyone outside the company without your agreement, unless the law requires it.

Making a complaint never affects the service you receive from us or the way your samples are handled. Our Impartiality Policy sets out how we keep commercial and other pressures away from testing and reporting.

How complaints improve our service

Every complaint, and the action taken on it, is recorded in our management system. Complaints are reviewed alongside client feedback at our management review meetings, where trends are examined and improvements agreed. Where a complaint reveals a weakness in a procedure, the procedure is changed.

Compliments and suggestions are as welcome as complaints: our feedback form goes straight to the senior management team.