Customer Request Handling Procedure

Purpose. This procedure describes how customer requests, enquiries and complaints are logged, categorised, assigned, actioned and closed in the customer request system.

1.Receiving a request

Requests arrive by telephone, counter, email, the online form, social media and letter. Every request must be logged in the customer request system on the day it is received, regardless of channel. The officer must record the customer's name, contact details, the location of the issue and a clear description.

2.Categorising and prioritising

The officer must select the request category and the priority. Priority is determined by the risk to public safety and the service standard for that category. A pothole on a sealed road is High, a request for a new street tree is Normal, and a report of a dog attack is Urgent.

• Urgent: action within 4 hours
• High: action within 2 business days
• Normal: action within 10 business days
• Low: action within 30 business days

3.Assigning

The system routes each category to the responsible department. The receiving officer must check that the assignment is correct and reassign where necessary. Requests that involve more than one department must be assigned to the lead department with a linked task for the others.

4.Actioning

The assigned officer must inspect, decide or arrange the work and record each action in the request notes. If the request cannot be completed within the service standard, the officer must update the customer before the due date and record the reason for the delay.

5.Closing

A request can only be closed when the work is complete or a decision has been communicated to the customer. The closing officer must record the outcome and how the customer was told. Complaints must be closed by a manager.

6.Reporting

The customer service coordinator will produce a monthly report of requests received, closed on time and overdue by department and present it to the executive leadership team.