Complaints Procedure – Sales, Letting, Property Management
McLean Forth Properties Limited is one of Scotland’s leading independent property agencies and has been trading successfully for over 30 years. We are a registered member of The Property Ombudsman Scheme, and we uphold the Code of Practice for Letting Agents and the Code of Practice for Residential Estate Agents in Scotland.
We are committed to providing a high-quality service to our clients. We therefore value complaints and use information from them to help us improve our services. If something goes wrong or you are unhappy with our staff or services, please tell us. These pages explain how you can make a complaint. If you simply want to make a suggestion or pay us a compliment, please email us at [email protected].
What is a complaint?
We define 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.
What can I complain about?
You can complain about things such as:
- our failure to provide a service
- inadequate standard of service
- treatment by or attitude of a member of McLean Forth staff
- our failure to follow the agreed administrative process
- all of the above, provided on our behalf by one of our contractors.
What is not a complaint?
A complaint is not:
- the first request for a service (for example, a request for a portable heater)
- a request for compensation only
- a request for information or an explanation of a policy or practice
- an attempt to reopen a previously concluded complaint where we have given our final decision.
What can’t I complain about?
There are some things we can’t deal with through our complaints handling procedure. These include complaints about:
- the policies and practice of Let Alliance, the organisation which we use to carry out our referencing and rent guarantee
- the policies and practices of Letting Protection Scotland, the body to which we transfer tenants’ deposits and which adjudicates on, and processes, the repayment of deposits, and any money to be withheld to meet claims by landlords
- issues that are in court or have already been heard by a court or a tribunal.
Complaints procedure
Our staff aim to resolve any day-to-day matters that may arise on a one to one basis and will strive to resolve any issues as soon as possible. In the majority of cases your concerns will be successfully resolved at this level. It is easier for us to resolve issues if you make us aware of them quickly and directly, so please talk to a member of our staff about the service you are concerned about. If your issue is not resolved quickly to your satisfaction, or if it involves a concern of a more serious nature, and/or compensation is sought, then you should raise a formal complaint.
A written formal complaint should be submitted, together with any related documents, terms of business where relevant, copies of any relevant emails and emailed to [email protected]
Or addressed to our registered office:
Branch Manager
McLean Forth Properties
3 Shore Road
Aberdour
KY3 0TR.
Your complaint should include:
- your full name and contact details
- as much detail as possible, outlining all issues you would like considered, including dates, names of any members of staff you dealt with, and where you are able to enclosing/attaching any supporting evidence
- Where appropriate, how you would like us to resolve the matter.
What should I expect when I complain?
Stage 1
Your complaint will be acknowledged within 3 working days of our receipt of your complaint and your complaint will be investigated by a member of staff not involved in the issue under investigation and a reply sent to you within 15 working days. In exceptional cases, where the investigation timescale needs to be extended beyond this limit, you will be kept fully informed and an explanation provided.
Stage 2
If you are not satisfied with how your complaint has been handled you may decide to ask for a second review. Again this should be sent by letter or by email to the addresses listed above. The second review will be conducted by our Owner/Managing Director Mark Bargeton. However please be aware that as we are a small business, Mark may have had to be involved with the initial investigation, in which case there will be no other staff members available to provide a further review of the issues you may raise.
In most cases the decision following stage 2 investigation will be final.
Stage 3
In the unlikely event that we cannot resolve your complaint your next recourse would be to contact the appropriate regulatory body.
For matters relating to sales/estate agency this is the Property Ombudsman, (details can be found at: www.tpos.co.uk). If your complaint falls within the criteria for review the Property Ombudsman will investigate your complaint.
Contact details are:
The Property Ombudsman
Milford House
43-55 Milford Street
Salisbury
Wiltshire
SP1 2BP
Tel: 01722 33330
For matters relating to lettings/property management this is the First-tier Tribunal (Housing and Property Chamber) (https://www.housingandpropertychamber.scot/contact-us).
Contact details are:
First-tier Tribunal for Scotland
Housing and Property Chamber
Glasgow Tribunals Centre
20 York Street
Glasgow
G2 8GT
Tel: 0141 302 5900
We will co-operate fully in any investigations initiated by the regulatory bodies.
What if I have a complaint against a Third Party/Contractor?
It should be noted that McLean Forth Properties are not liable for the actions of a third party or a contractor. However we will investigate any complaint in line with the following process. We will not be able to force a third party or contractor to compensate you but we will investigate a complaint on your behalf. If you wish to raise a formal complaint against a third party or a contractor who was introduced to
you by McLean Forth Properties a written formal complaint should be submitted, together with any related documents, invoices, copies of emails etc and sent to:
You may also send a paper copy of your complaint to our registered office:
Branch Manager
McLean Forth Properties
3 Shore Road
Aberdour
KY3 0TR.
Your complaint will be acknowledged within 3 working days of our receipt of your complaint and your complaint will be investigated by the Operations Director and a reply sent to you within 15 working days. In exceptional cases, where the investigation timescale needs to be extended beyond this limit, you will be kept fully informed and an explanation provided. In the unlikely event that we cannot resolve your complaint to your satisfaction, your next recourse would be to contact the third party or contractor in question and pursue your complaint with them directly.