How we deal
with complaints
April 2023
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2
What is in this booklet
About this booklet ..........................................................................
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4
How to make a complaint 5
How we will deal with your complaint 10
Ways we can sort out complaints 15
If you are not happy with what we do 19
Keeping your information safe 24
Bad complaints 27
3
About this booklet
Safe
Southeastern runs train services in the
South East of England.
We want to give a safe and
welcoming train service to our
customers.
But sometimes things go wrong and
people w
ant to complain.
This booklet explains:
•
How you can make a complaint.
•
How we deal with complaints and
what happens next.
4
How to make a complaint
If you want to make a complaint, you
can do it in different ways.
Talk to our staff
If you are on a train or at a station
you can talk to our staff.
They will be happy to help you and
will try to sort out y
our complaint
there and then.
They can also give you contact details
f
or our Customer Services team if you
are still not happy.
5
•
Post:
Southeastern Customer Services
PO Box 8625
Swadlincote
DE11 1HZ
•
X: @SE_Railway
•
Whatsapp: 07866 002 690
Meet a manager
You can speak to one of our managers
in person or online.
To find out when and where you can
speak to a manager, please go to our
w
ebsite:
www.southeasternrailway.co.uk/
meetthemanager
7
Name
Date
Time
What to tell us about
when you complain
Make sure that you tell us:
•
Your personal details, like your
name, address, email address and
phone number.
•
The date and time of your journey
or the station you are complaining
about.
•
The type of ticket you had - please
send us a picture of your ticket.
•
How you would like to be paid, if you
are asking for money from us.
8
I would
like you
to…
•
What the problem was and
anything bad that happened to you.
•
What the staff member looked like,
if you are complaining about a staff
member.
•
What you would like us to do about
the problem.
9
How we will deal with your
complaint
We take all complaints seriously and
deal with them in a fair way.
When we get your complaint, we will:
•
Look into your complaint.
•
Find out what happened.
•
Try to sort it out.
We will look into your complaint as
quickly as w
e can.
We will write to you when we have
done this and t
ell you what we have
done.
10
30 seconds
10
How long we will take
to look at your
complaint
We will let you know what we have
done about your complaint as soon as
we can.
If you call us with a complaint, we will
try to:
•
Answer your call within 30 seconds.
•
Try to sort out the problem on the
phone.
•
Write to you within 10 working days
if we cannot sort the problem out
on the phone.
Working days are the usual days of
w
ork, from Monday to Friday.
11
10
20
If you fill in the form on our website or
write to us, we will try to write back to
you within 10 working days.
If we need more time to look into your
complaint, we will tell you and try to
write to you within 20 working days.
12
We have
sent your
complaint
to…
If your complaint is
about another train
company
If you send us a complaint about
another train company, we will:
•
Answer any issues about our train
services if they are part of your
complaint.
•
Send your complaint to the
Customer Services team at the
company you are complaining
about.
•
Tell you where we have sent your
complaint to.
If your complaint is about a ticket or
service f
rom another company, you
will need to complain to them.
13
If your complaint is about the
railways, like fences or crossings,
please contact Network Rail:
www.communications-crm.custhelp.com
If you have a problem with your
Oyster card, you can contact
Transport for London:
www.tfl.gov.uk/help-and-contact
If your complaint is about parking or
parking char
ges, please contact us.
14
Ways we can sort out
complaints
We are
sorry
This is
what went
wrong…
Change
We can try to sort out your problem in
different ways, including:
•
Saying sorry.
•
Giving you some money to say
sorry.
•
Telling you what went wrong.
•
Telling you what we are going to
change to make the problem better.
15
Claiming for lost or
damaged items or
being hurt on our trains
You might want to ask us for some
money if:
•
We have lost something belonging
to you.
•
We have damaged something
belonging to you.
•
You have been hurt at one of our
stations or on one of our trains.
You will need to write a letter or email
to our Customer Services t
eam, telling
us as much detail as you can.
17
10
We will reply to you no more than 10
working days after you send us your
claim.
Help with travel
If you booked some help with
travelling on our trains and you did
not get the help, please tell us.
We will find out what went wrong.
You can find out more about this on
our website:
www.southeasternrailway.co.uk/
about-us/our-policies/accessible-
travel-policy
18
If you are not happy with
what we do
If you are not happy with our reply to
your complaint, please let us know.
Someone from our team will look at
your complaint again.
Your complaint may need to be
esc
alated - this means a more senior
manager will look into your complaint.
19
FREE
If you are still not
happy
Please give us a chance to sort out
your complaint.
If you are still unhappy with what we
do, y
ou can complain to the Rail
Ombudsman.
The Rail Ombudsman is there to sort
out complain
ts between us and our
customers. They do not take sides.
It is free to use the Rail Ombudsman.
20
12
40
Deadlock
You can contact the Rail Ombudsman
if:
•
You got a “deadlock” letter from us,
which means we cannot do
anything more about your
complaint.
•
We have not been able to sort out
your complaint after 40 working
days of getting it.
•
It is no more than 12 months from
when we sent you our final letter or
email.
The Rail Ombudsman will:
•
Try to help you and us agree about
the complaint.
•
Decide what should happen with
the complaint if we cannot agree.
21
You can contact the Rail Ombudsman
by:
•
Post:
FREEPOST - RAIL OMBUDSMAN
You do not need to use a stamp.
•
Telephone: 0330 094 0362
•
Textphone: 0330 094 0363
•
Text message: 07427 580 060
•
WhatsApp: 07427 580 060
22
Keeping your information
safe
Name
Name
3
We will always keep any information
we have about you safe and private.
We may keep any personal
information you give us, like your
name or address.
We will use this information to help us
deal with your complaint.
We will keep any letters and emails
you send us for 3 years.
24
1
We will be
recording
this call
We may record phone calls you have
with us.
We will always tell you if we are
recording your phone call.
We will keep phone call recordings for
1 y
ear.
25
Sharing your
information with others
We will need to share your
information with other train
companies if you complain about their
services.
We may need to share information
with the R
ail Ombudsman if you have
asked them to look at your complaint.
For more information you can see our
f
ull privacy policy on our website:
www.southeasternrailway.co.uk/
about-us/our-policies/privacy-policy
26
Bad complaints
Sometimes people make complaints
that are:
It not a
serious
complaint
•
Not serious.
•
Made without a real reason.
•
Rude or abusive.
We will always treat you with respect
and polit
eness.
27
Please
stop
If we decide that we will not be able
to deal with your complaint because it
is not serious or made without a real
reason, we may stop looking into the
complaint.
If you are rude or abusive when you
complain, we will reply to you and tell
you to stop.
If you are still rude and abusive we
may stop having any contact with
you.
We may contact the police if we need
to.
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