Copyright©  2006 Hawkriver Car Leasing ® Ltd

All rights reserved.

For the sake of clarity, no content provided through hawkrivercarleasing.com and hawkrivercarleasing.co.uk can be reproduced or re-published without the express written permission of The Company.

Trademarks

The names Hawkrivercarleasing and Hawkriver Car Leasing and Hawkriver Leasing logos, are trademarks or registered trademarks of Hawkriver Leasing Ltd. All other product names and company logos mentioned herein are the trademarks of their respective owners.

Warranties

THIS PUBLICATION IS PROVIDED "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, OR NON-INFRINGEMENT.

REFERENCES TO CORPORATIONS, THEIR SERVICES AND PRODUCTS, ARE PROVIDED "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED. IN NO EVENT SHALL MONDAQ BUSINESS BRIEFING BE LIABLE FOR ANY SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, INDIRECT OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES OF ANY KIND, OR ANY DAMAGES WHATSOEVER RESULTING FROM LOSS OF USE, DATA OR PROFITS, WHETHER OR NOT ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF LOSS, AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, ARISING OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE USE OR PERFORMANCE OF THIS INFORMATION.

Descriptions of, or references to, products or publications within the Hawkriver Leasing web site do not imply endorsement of that product or publication. Hawkriver Leasing Ltd makes no warranty of any kind with respect to the subject matter included herein, the products listed herein, or the completeness or accuracy of this catalogue. Hawkriver Leasing Ltd specifically disclaims all warranties, express, implied or otherwise, including without limitation, all warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose.

THIS PUBLICATION COULD INCLUDE TECHNICAL INACCURACIES OR TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS. CHANGES ARE PERIODICALLY ADDED TO THE INFORMATION HEREIN; THESE CHANGES WILL BE INCORPORATED IN NEW EDITIONS OF THE PUBLICATION. Hawkriver Leasing LTD MAY MAKE IMPROVEMENTS AND/OR CHANGES IN THE PRODUCT(S) AND/OR THE PUBLICATION(S) AT ANY TIME.

A Complaint

 A complaint is defined as any communication received, the purpose of which is to express dissatisfaction with any aspect of the standard of service received, a complaint can arise if any of the following applies; it is plainly evident from the conversation or tone of the correspondence (anger or exasperation ) that the customer is dissatisfied, the customer has put the issue formally in writing (to any member of staff, including Senior Managers), the customer has contacted, or tried to contact, the franchisee previously on the same type of issue   

 A complaint will be handled by any suitably qualified complaints advisor or employee, as determined by the franchisee principal. 

Receipt and initial analysis of a complaint 

 A complaint must be logged on to an appropriate Franchisee Customer Complaints database within 1 business day of receipt and assigned to a complaints advisor (the “Advisor”) or any suitably qualified employee, as determined by the franchisee principal.

Acknowledgement

 A complaint will be assigned a unique reference number and if it is not concluded by the end of the business day after it was received a written Acknowledgement must be sent to the complainant within 3 business days of receipt of the complaint.  

 The Acknowledgement must give the name or job title of the person handling the complaint and enclose a copy of the franchisee’s own Complaints Handling Procedure shown on the reverse of the Acknowledgement letter. (A copy of the suggested wording for this procedure is enclosed)

 If the complaint is concluded by the end of the business day after it was received it can then be closed without the necessity of following this procedure.  

 Financial Ombudsman Service rules require that an Acknowledgement is sent within 5 business days of receiving the complaint.  Following this recommended procedure ensures this is done within 3 business days.

Final Response

 Following investigation, the Franchisee’s target should be to send a Final Response which must be sent within 10 business days of the receipt of the complaint.

 It must either uphold the client's complaint (and set out proposed terms for settling the complaint) or tell the complainant that it believes there are no grounds for upholding the complaint, and

 In the case of complaints concerning customers under Regulated Agreements; advise the complainant that they can contact the Financial Ombudsman Service within six months of the date of the final response should they remain dissatisfied, and enclose a copy of the Financial Ombudsman Service’s explanatory leaflet

 A complaint must not be closed until a Final Response has been sent, unless the complaint is dealt with and closed by the end of the next business day after it was received.

 Financial Ombudsman Service rules require that a Final Response is sent within 8 weeks of receiving the complaint.  Following this recommended procedure ensures this is done within 10 days as set out above.

Complaints Reporting (FSA registered franchisee’s only)

 The appointed person at the franchisee is responsible for compiling and filing the Complaints Return in the first week of April and the first week of October every year and ensuring it is sent to the FSA within the time limits.

 All records and files concerning complaints must be kept for at least three years from the date of resolution of the complaint.   

6.  Referrals 

 If, on receipt of a complaint, the franchisee has reasonable grounds to be satisfied that someone else outside of the franchisee’s own business is solely or jointly responsible for the alleged failures, the franchisee must refer the complaint to that company in writing (letter/fax or email) within 5 business days of receiving the complaint.

 The franchisee must by way of Acknowledgement, inform the complainant that they have referred the complaint and give the contact details of the business they have referred it to.

 If the franchisee is referring because they have reasonable grounds to be satisfied that the other business is solely responsible for the alleged failures the Acknowledgement should be in the form of a final response as above.

 If the franchisee is referring because they have reasonable grounds to be satisfied that the other business is jointly responsible for the alleged failures they should complete the full complaints handling procedure above for the part of the complaint that is their responsibility.

 If a complaint is referred to the franchisee by another business they should apply the full handling procedure above, from the date they received the complaint from the other business.