To the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy,

and

To the Chair of Ombudsman Services.

For Clarity - Attempt 602.

602) The Rev Shand Smith Passes The Buck.

Dear Mr Clark and Lord Tim Clement Jones.

When we complained to Ombudsman Services about Gillian Fleming's eye wateringly ludicrous decision regarding our complaint, the Chair, Dame Janet Finch passed it to the CEO, the Rev Shand Smith, who passed it back to the Ombudsman who said she'd already answered our questions.

We assume this is what the RICS mean by, "the effective resolution of disputes."

Question 1:

"The Annual Minutes for 2009 clearly show staff at the service were presented with a sudden and huge amount of additional work. That, "due to a range of complicated factors the company was experiencing pressures that required careful management."

Also, "The company was hit by the biggest increase in complaint numbers it had ever seen. This was a challenge to our people, processes and structure." Yet in spite of this the Chief Ombudsman (Lewis Shand Smith) was confident to announce that, "We have a superb model that provides high quality outcomes to consumer complaints."

(minutes June 2009)

DJS Pilot Study of 2009 on the other hand shows that far from receiving, "high quality outcomes" an overwhelming number of complainants thought the service had failed them.

The SOS download, "Our service standards" directs dissatisfied complainants to the Independent Assessor should they remain unhappy with the service they've received. As I am one of the many - 61% according to DJS Research 2010 - who remain unhappy with this service and in particular the Ombudsman's Final Decision, there are a number of issues I should like to raise with you about the service I received.

"Our service standards - what to expect from us when we deal with a dispute between a consumer and a member company." I should like to begin by complaining about the misleading nature of a number of statements in this document:

a) we resolve complaints fairly and quickly.

Neither is true.

DJS Research has shown that (6.22)  "Most - 61% - felt the outcome was against them - 43% felt it was completely against them."

Q1. How do you equate "fairness" with the fact that most of the complainants felt that the Ombudsman had found in favour of her Members?

Where on earth are The Rev Shand Smith's mythical, "high quality outcomes?" What, "superb model" would be when 43% of property complainants felt the Ombudsman's decision went totally against them?

Don't you both agree - we really must get to the bottom of this.

Yours sincerely,

Steve Gilbert - Workstock number: 510458.

The Ombudsmans61percent Campaign is at: www.blogger.com / facebook - Ombudsmans Sixtyone-percent.