Smillie reception for ad complaints
03 August 2006
Barrie Smillie - Complaints Administrator
Number six in our series of articles looking behind the scenes of the advertising system turns its focus to the important role performed by the Complaints Reception Team. Barrie Smillie writes ...
No two days are the same on Complaints Reception. As the name suggests, it is here the complaints enter the Advertising Standards Authority and the complaints process begins. We are very much the first point of contact for complainants and therefore the 'face of the ASA'. But really, we're so much more than that. If complaints are the heart of the ASA then the Complaints Reception team are the valves that keep the blood flowing through it. A natural choke point in the system, if we don't do our work then nobody else can do theirs.
As Complaints Administrators, it is our responsibility to ensure that each complaint is loaded with all the essential information required to process it. Logging and house-keeping of web complaints, telephone and postal complaints, which must be scanned into electronic files, we made our way through over 26,000 complaints last year. We ensure that each complaint that is received is loaded onto the database in a timely, consistent and, most importantly, accurate manner. The integrity of data logged lies with Complaints Reception and we are constantly cleansing stored information to ensure that it is current.
Though 70% of our complaints come via our website, taking complaints over the telephone means that we are able to immediately determine whether or not we can help callers and, if the matter is outside our remit, we are often in a position to suggest other sources of information and/or assistance. If we can take the complaint over the telephone, then we must ensure that we accurately and concisely summarise the complaint in order to make it easier for Complaints Handlers to make their initial assessment. It is obviously very important to capture the crux of what callers are getting at. The nature of the work means that there are peaks and troughs, although it is almost impossible to determine when the busy periods are likely to occur. This means that we must truly be a flexible team, rather than a 'nine to five' operation.
Once complaints are loaded, it is down to us to distribute the complaints to the relevant Complaint Handlers. This means that we are responsible for keeping the complaints chain moving. We provide additional support by obtaining copies of marketing materials that can be easily located either on-site (in our library of publications) or from the appropriate electronic databases.
From dealing with television advertisements depicting real life events to a poster campaign containing an alleged interest rate anomaly or direct mailings that purport that the recipient is a winner of some draw or other, we in Complaints Reception see it all. It's often amazing to think the perceptions of people can be so different even if the complaints are regarding the same advertisements, which often they are.