AEE Complaints Policy 

Guide for Complainants

1. Foreward

The Academy of Enterprise Education (AEE) is committed to providing an excellent online education experience and high-quality services to our students from enrolment to graduation.
We value complaints and use information from them to help us improve our services.

1. If something goes wrong or you are dissatisfied with our services, please tell us. This guide describes our complaints procedure and how to make a complaint.
    It also tells you about how we will handle your complaint and what you can expect from us.

2. No complainant will be disadvantaged as a result of making a complaint. AEE will not tolerate harassment or victimisation of anyone raising a complaint.
    This includes any threat, whether conveyed by words or conduct, to influence the academic career of a student who raises a complaint.
    Nor will any individual be disciplined as a result of raising a complaint, even if they are mistaken.

 2. What is a complaint?

We regard a complaint as any expression of dissatisfaction about our action or lack of action, or about the standard of service provided by us or on our behalf.

3. What can I complain about?

You can complain about things like:

· failure or refusal to provide a service

· inadequate quality or standard of service, or an unreasonable delay in providing a service

· failure to properly apply law, procedure or guidance when delivering services

· failure to follow the appropriate administrative process

· conduct, treatment by or attitude of a member of staff or contractor (except where there are arrangements in place for the contractor to handle the complaint themselves); or

· disagreement with a decision, (except where there is a statutory procedure for challenging that decision, or an established appeals process followed throughout the sector). 

Your complaint may involve more than one service or be about someone working on our behalf. This assurance would not be extended to someone who maliciously raised a matter they knew to be untrue or should reasonably have known to be untrue.4

4. What can’t I complain about?

There are some things we can’t deal with through our complaints handling procedure. These include:

· a request for information or an explanation of policy or practice

· a response to an invitation to provide feedback through a formal mechanism such as a 

questionnaire or committee membership 

· a concern about student conduct

· a routine first-time request for a service 

· a request for compensation only 

· an insurance claim

· issues that are in court or have already been heard by a court or a tribunal (if you decide to take legal action, you should let us know as the complaint cannot then be considered under this process)

· disagreement with a decision where there is a statutory procedure for challenging that decision (such as for freedom of information and subject access requests), or an established appeals process followed throughout the sector (such as an appeal about an academic decision on assessment or admission)

· a request for information under the Data Protection or Freedom of Information (Scotland) 

Acts, or the Environmental Information Regulations

· a grievance by a staff member or a grievance relating to employment or staff recruitment 

· concerns about services outwith AEE’s delegated responsibilities 

· an attempt to reopen a previously concluded complaint or to have a complaint reconsidered where we have already given our final decision

· a concern about the actions or service of a different organisation, where we have no 

involvement in the issue (except where the other organisation is delivering services on our behalf). 

5. What happens if I want to make a complaint?

1. Please visit our website aoee.co.uk/contact and Click the support pop up, enter your details and the message you wish to send.
2. This will then be received by our student support team who will send an initial response to you within 24 hours.
3. You can also email support@institutions.aoee.co.uk if you wish to do so.

6. What is the Complaints procedure

You can make your complaint in person, by phone, by email or in writing. We have a two-stage complaints procedure. We will always try to deal with your complaint quickly. But if it is clear that the matter will need investigation, we will tell you and keep you updated on our progress.

Stage 1: Frontline response

We will always try to respond to your complaint quickly, within five working days if we can. If you are dissatisfied with our response, you can ask us to consider your complaint at stage 2.

Stage 2: Investigation

We will look at your complaint at this stage if you are dissatisfied with our response at stage 1. We also look at some complaints immediately at this stage, if it is clear that they need investigation. We will acknowledge your complaint within three working days. We will confirm the points of complaint to be investigated and what you want to achieve. We will investigate the complaint and give you our decision as soon as possible. This will be after no more than 20 working days unless there is clearly a good reason for needing more time.

7. Who Handles My Complaint?

1. All complaints are handled in-house by our student support team.
2. If your complaint is regarding a specific pathway, the complaint will be escalated to our Director of Learning and Teaching. 
3. We will notify you if your complaint needs to be escalated from stage 1 to stage 2 and you will receive an email to confirm this, along with confirmation of when to expect a response.

8. What Information Do I need To Provide For My Complaint?

Please provide us with the following information for your complaint. This will aid us in resolving your complaint as quickly as possible.

1. Details of how we can contact you
2. A clear description of your complaint
3. Details of what you would like us to do to rectify the situation
4. If needed, copies of any relevant supporting documentation

9. Is My Complaint Tracked?

1. Yes, all complaints are tracked and stored internally.

10. Our Commitment To You

In some cases our customer support team may need to contact you for more information. AEE will thoroughly investigate your complaint and offer a fair response that will take into account all the information available to us and you as a customer. We may not always provide the answer you are looking for, but we’ll make sure we offer a clear explanation for our decision.

We will always use complaints and feedback from our customers to improve our services so the situation doesn’t rise again. Please note that a complaint is never taken lightly.

11.  How long do I have to make a complaint?

Normally, if your complaint is within our 14 day money back guarantee, then a full refund will be provided. However, you must make your complaint within six months of:

· the event you want to complain about; or

· finding out that you have a reason to complain.