Unacceptable customer behaviour policy

At Honeycomb Group we always want to provide the very best customer experience. However, we’re human, and we know we don’t always get it right. When this happens, we have a robust complaints process in place which ensures issues are dealt with in a fair and professional way that also provides you with an opportunity to have your voice and concerns listened to and addressed.

When things go wrong, we know it can be frustrating, but we cannot tolerate any unacceptable behaviour towards our staff or contractors, regardless of whether you feel it’s justified.

Abusive or violent behaviour can cause staff distress, impacting their mental health and overall wellbeing. This then has a knock-on effect and impacts our ability to deliver our services. Because of this, we do not expect our employees or contractors to feel like they must deal with customers who are showing threatening, abusive, or violent behaviour.

What is unacceptable behaviour?

• Verbal abuse, aggression, and violence. This is not just limited to physical or verbal abuse but can also include derogatory remarks, rudeness, inflammatory allegations, and threats of violence.
• Making unreasonable demands. This could include asking for large amounts of information within a short timeframe, refusing to speak to a certain staff member, or insisting to speak to another staff member.
• Refusing to accept our response. This may look like refusing to accept information provided, continuing to raise the same subject without any new evidence, or logging another complaint about the same issue but adding or changing the subject of the complaint.
• Unreasonable persistence. This could look like excessive letters, calls, emails, or contact via social media. This could also relate to how often the contact is made, the volume of correspondence received and the frequency and length of telephone calls.

How will we deal with unacceptable behaviour?

• If our staff and contractors are faced with unacceptable behaviour, they might feel the need to end a call, visit, or appointment.
• If we know a customer is likely to behave in a certain way, more than one member of staff will complete visits or appointments. This helps to safeguard both the staff and customer, especially if behaviour is made worse due to any physical or mental conditions.
• Where we can, we will always try to reach an agreement with customers, before taking more formal action. We may suggest mediation to try and improve the situation and if this fails, we may issue a warning before taking any formal steps. As part of this process, we will always explain why behaviour is unreasonable and what will happen next if it continues.

What action could we take as a result of unacceptable behaviour?

• Provide you with a single point of contact.
• Limit contact to a single form, like letters or emails for example.
• Limit contact to certain times or a limited number of times.
• Not investigate further unless new evidence or information is provided.
• Limit how many issues we can investigate, if there are a number.
• Unacceptable behaviour could put your tenancy at risk, as it’s a breech of your tenancy agreement.
• In certain cases that involve physical or verbal violence, abuse or harassment towards employees or contractors, we may need to take further action by involving the police or taking other legal action.
• Our priority will always be to protect our customers and employees, but if the focus of a complaint revolves around an employee rather than the service received, these will also be investigated using our appropriate policies.
  
  

We expect our employees to offer you with a great service that ensures you feel listened to and respected. In return, please respect our staff and contractors as they deliver our services to you.