Following a critical report by the Cayman Islands government watchdog, several high-profile entities have promised to improve customer service by implementing a process to deal with complaints.
However, others said the Office of the Complaints Commissioner overlooked some issues, or simply got it wrong.
‘Not having an (internal complaints process) is not the same as not dealing with complaints,’ said Postmaster General Sheena Glasgow. ‘Unfortunately, this fact seems to have been overlooked since the release of the report from the OCC.’
Complaints Commissioner John Epp’s office began making enquiries in 2005 as to which government entities had what’s known as an internal complaints process in place.
An internal complaints process is one that allows Cayman Islands residents to submit complaints against various entities and to have those complaints addressed in a timely fashion.
Mr. Epp has said such a process gives those entities valuable feedback from the people who use them. He said it also takes a bit of the complaints case load away from the OCC, leaving that office free to investigate larger, systemic problems.
Of the 76 government entities studied by the OCC, 34 had an internal complaints process, 17 did not, and the other 25 didn’t bother to respond.
Among the 17 agencies that Mr. Epp said did not have a complaints process were several groups that have extensive contact with the public. Those included the Planning Department, Public Works, the National Roads Authority, the Post Office and the Cayman Islands Investment Bureau.
Many of those agencies told the Caymanian Compass they planned to establish an internal complaints process in the near future.
‘A complaints procedure should be mandatory for every organisation, be they private or public,’ Planning Director Kenneth Ebanks wrote in response to the Compass questions. ‘The department does intend to formalise its complaints process.’
Roads Authority Chairman Lemuel Hurlston said his agency was just formed a few years ago, but he said NRA recognises the importance of internal complaints.
‘We must have one; it’s only a matter of time,’ Mr Hurlston said.
He added that a consultant’s review of NRA will be completed in a few weeks, and is expected to recommend the establishment of a complaints process.
Investment Bureau Executive Director Dax Basdeo also issued a statement which said a formal complaints process would be implemented in the very near future at the bureau.
Postal issues
Of the 17 agencies the OCC said did not have an internal complaints process, the one which probably deals with the public most often is the Postal Service.
Postmaster General, Ms Glasgow took exception to the report in a two-page letter sent to the Caymanian Compass.
‘The Postal Department…does not have a written document on how to handle complaints, we just get on with the business of dealing with them,’ she wrote.
Ms Glasgow said mapping out an internal complaints procedure for a department that deals with many kinds of mail that pass through locations all over the world is not a simple process.
She also noted while the postal service handles millions of items each year, complaints are comparatively few.
‘I am willing to commit to putting an (internal complaints process) in place, but in my own reasonable and realistic time frame,’ Ms Glasgow said. ‘In the meantime, the postal service will continue handling complaints.’
In his report, Mr. Epp said entities like the post office, which have more contact with the public, should have more organised complaints processes.
He said departments that don’t have them are only hurting their own products and services.
‘Some businesses pay thousands of dollars for focus groups to hear what people think about programs or initiatives,’ he said. ‘A wise manager…uses an internal complaints process as a research tool. If you have no organised…process, all of that valuable data is never collected.’
No response?
The OCC report also identified 25 different government entities that didn’t manage to respond to questions about a complaints process.
One of the 25 was the Cayman Islands Customs Department.
‘But we did respond to them,’ said Customs Collector Carlon Powery. ‘That was an error on their part.’
Mr. Powery said Customs does have a formalised complaints process for each of the department’s nine sections. He said any complaints received in writing would be forwarded to the head of the responsible section for investigation.
‘We would make a written response, or if it’s a case where it was necessary to have the complainant come in, we would meet with them as well,’ he said.
OCC staffer Scott Swing said Customs did forward its response to OCC’s 27 July, 2006 enquiry on 1 February, 2007. The OCC report was submitted to Chief Secretary George McCarthy in December 2006. Mr. Swing said an updated report would be sent to the Governor and Mr. McCarthy.
Another non-responsive entity was the Ministry of Communications, Works and Infrastructure, headed by Minister Arden McLean.
‘I certainly don’t condone not replying to anything, but sometimes these things get slowed down,’ Mr. McLean said.
Mr. Epp said it was disappointing more agencies didn’t respond to his request for information.
‘It’s a pretty strong indicator of the priority given by some managers in government entities to customer service.’
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