Complaints handling policy
Green Energy Trading takes complaints seriously, and is committed to working closely with energy consumers, clients, installation companies and installers to ensure the best outcomes for consumers and clients.
The aim of this procedure document is to ensure that all complaints raised to Green Energy Trading are treated in a fair, transparent and honest manner and that all complaints are recorded for monitoring for continuous improvement.
Definition of complaint
A complaint can be defined as the expression of dissatisfaction with a service, product or installation that is offered to an energy consumer or installer, by either Green Energy Trading (provision of creation service) or one of its clients (provision of renewable energy or energy efficient products and installations).
A complaint may be received in writing, email, in person or over the phone, and needs to be communicated to the responsible team member in order for the complaint to be effectively handled.
The origin of complaints can arise from four sources:
The consumer makes contact with Green Energy Trading regarding their installation at any time during their installation process.
Green Energy Trading Customer Service Officer (CSO) is advised of an issue with the installation by the consumer during the desktop audit form validation process or phone audit process, or is notified of a complaint from a client or installer during form validation
Green Energy Trading Inspection Officer is notified of an issue, or detects an issue during a site inspection of a completed commercial lighting upgrade.
Green Energy Trading is notified of a complaint made against Green Energy Trading by a consumer from one of the regulatory bodies.
Regardless of the source of the complaint, each complaint shall be handled in an effective, polite and timely manner.
While Green Energy Trading values feedback provided by customers and clients, only complaints need to be classified, collected and reported on under this policy and procedure document. If dissatisfaction has not been expressed, or the customer has not sought a resolution, the matter should not be classified and recorded as a complaint.
Roles and Responsibilities
Customer Service Officers:
Individual complaints shall be handled by CSOs in the first instance.
Customer Service Officers are the first point of contact consumers to lodge a formal complaint or raise a concern or issue regarding an installation that was completed by a client of Green Energy Trading, or to handle complaints lodged against Green Energy Trading by a client.
In accordance with the procedure, CSOs shall be responsible for the handling of the complaint until it is either closed or escalated.
Site inspection officers:
When a complaint is identified during a site inspection, it will be the inspecting officer’s duty to record the complaint and to oversee the management of the issue until resolved.
Escalation:
Where a complaint is classed as severe, or when there has been a number of individual (unrelated) complaints made against a particular installer or client, the complaints shall be escalated to the Operations Manager, or Responsible Person for the Scheme.
The relevant Responsible Person, supported by the Compliance teams, shall then investigate the complaint(s) and make contact with the decision maker of the implicated client.
The relevant Responsible Person shall be responsible for the handling of the complaint until it is closed.
Severity assessment
The severity of a consumer compliant must be assessed to ensure the action or response is appropriate for the type of complaint. A crucial question to ask is whether there is a risk to safety or risk to reputation if this complaint is not handled appropriately?
Classifying complaints in this way allows for Green Energy Trading to assess complaints made by customers on a risk based method, to determine the risk associated with creating certificates for an installation that is the subject of a complaint.
Non-complying products or services
It is Green Energy Trading’s responsibility to ensure that immediate steps are taken to notify a consumer of any failure to comply with any of these requirements.
If this internal dispute resolution process does not resolve the complaint, we must provide the consumer with further information and contact details, including:
the Consumer Affairs Victoria website
information about the commission’s dispute resolution and support services, including the relevant commission telephone numbers - ph. (03) 9032 1310 // email veu@esc.vic.gov.au
information about any other external dispute resolution processes that may be available, such as
VEET Regulations
Victorian Energy Upgrades Specifications
Australian Consumer Law (Victoria).
If we receive a complaint about something not covered by us we must provide information about the appropriate person or body to handle the complaint and, where possible, provide assistance to resolve the complaint. This includes if the complaint is about something Green Energy Trading is not directly responsible for.
We cannot create VEECs where there are known non-compliance issues. If this happens we could face compliance and enforcement actions, including prosecution. VEU A&C powers can be found here: Our VEU audit and compliance functions | Essential Services Commission