Included in the BBC’s revised complaints procedure that was finalised and published in October 2016 are clauses relating to time frameworks:
“The BBC aims to reply within 10 working days of receipt of your complaint though some complaints may take longer than others to investigate.”
And:
“Normally Ofcom will consider relevant complaints only if the complainant is dissatisfied with the outcome of the BBC process; if, in light of the outcome, the complainant considers that Ofcom should impose a sanction; or if the BBC has failed to reach a conclusion within the time period set in these procedures.” [emphasis added]
Visitors to the BBC Complaints website are told that:
“If you complain in writing we post or email over 90% of our replies within 2 weeks. […]
It can take longer to reply to other complaints, depending on the issue being investigated or how many others we have. Sometimes a delay may be due to practical reasons. For example a production team may already be working on another programme or have gone on location. […]
We aim to deal with your complaint fairly, quickly and satisfactorily. We are required by our Royal Charter to have a complaints framework which provides “transparent, accessible, effective, timely and proportionate methods” of making sure we are meeting our obligations and fixing problems.”
In the past two months BBC Watch has seen three separate instances in which BBC Complaints has not addressed the issues raised within the time frame and has for all intents and purposes thereby effectively closed down the complaint.
Receipt of a complaint submitted on June 24th was acknowledged on the same day. On July 2nd BBC Complaints informed us that it was going to need more time to deal with the complaint.
On July 21st BBC Complaints stated that it had not managed to resolve the complaint within the designated time limit.
We have heard nothing further from BBC Complaints on that topic since.
The same pattern was subsequently repeated in relation to two additional complaints.
We would be very interested to hear from any readers with similar experiences in the comments below.