EN 14012:2003

2003-01.Slovenski inštitut za standardizacijo. Razmnoževanje celote ali delov tega standarda ni dovoljeno.Postal services - Quality of service - Measurement of complaints and redress proceduresPostal services - Quality of service - Measurement of complaints and redress proceduresServices postaux - Qualité du service - Mesure des réclamations et procédures de réparationPostalische Dienstleistungen - Dienstqualität - Messung von Beschwerden und EntschädigungsverfahrenTa slovenski standard je istoveten z:EN 14012:2003SIST EN 14012:2004en03.240Poštne storitvePostal servicesICS:SLOVENSKI
STANDARDSIST EN 14012:200401-januar-2004







EUROPEAN STANDARDNORME EUROPÉENNEEUROPÄISCHE NORMEN 14012March 2003ICS 03.240English versionPostal services - Quality of service - Measurement of complaintsand redress proceduresServices postaux - Qualité du service - Mesure desréclamations et procédures de réparationPostdienste - Dienstqualität - Messung von Beschwerdenund EntschädigungsverfahrenThis European Standard was approved by CEN on 20 December 2002.CEN members are bound to comply with the CEN/CENELEC Internal Regulations which stipulate the conditions for giving this EuropeanStandard the status of a national standard without any alteration. Up-to-date lists and bibliographical references concerning such nationalstandards may be obtained on application to the Management Centre or to any CEN member.This European Standard exists in three official versions (English, French, German). A version in any other language made by translationunder the responsibility of a CEN member into its own language and notified to the Management Centre has the same status as the officialversions.CEN members are the national standards bodies of Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece,Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and UnitedKingdom.EUROPEAN COMMITTEE FOR STANDARDIZATIONCOMITÉ EUROPÉEN DE NORMALISATIONEUROPÄISCHES KOMITEE FÜR NORMUNGManagement Centre: rue de Stassart, 36
B-1050 Brussels© 2003 CENAll rights of exploitation in any form and by any means reservedworldwide for CEN national Members.Ref. No. EN 14012:2003 E



EN 14012:2003 (E)2ContentspageForeword.3Introduction.41Scope.52Normative references.63Terms and definitions.74Making a complaint.114.1General.114.2Process for making a complaint.114.3Information provided to users.114.4Information required when making a complaint.115Classification of complaints.135.1Classification process.135.2Categories of complaints.135.3Complaints about lost items.146Complaints management system.156.1General.156.2The complaints handling process.156.3Maximum handling time.156.4Replying to complaints.167Redress procedures.178Measurement of complaints.188.1Records.188.2Statistical indicators.188.3Reporting statistics about complaints.199Quality control system.21Annex A
(informative)
Flow procedures for a complaints management system.22Annex B
(informative)
Report on statistical indicators.23Bibliography.32



EN 14012:2003 (E)3ForewordThis document (EN 14012:2003) has been prepared by Technical Committee CEN/TC 331, "Postalservices", the secretariat of which is held by NEN.This European Standard shall be given the status of a national standard, either by publication of anidentical text or by endorsement, at the latest by September 2003, and conflicting national standards shallbe withdrawn at the latest by September 2003.Annexes A and B are informative.This document includes a Bibliography.According to the CEN/CENELEC Internal Regulations, the national standards organizations of thefollowing countries are bound to implement this European Standard: Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic,Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta,Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.



EN 14012:2003 (E)4IntroductionIn 1992 the European Commission pointed out in its Green paper the need to establish common rules forthe development of community postal services and the improvement of quality of service. The Commissionidentified requirements for quality of service measurement including the management and measurement ofcomplaints.The 1997 Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on common rules for the developmentof the internal market of Community postal services and the improvement of quality of service, 97/67/CEarticle 19, requires universal service providers to publish once a year information on the number ofcomplaints and the way they are dealt with.Complaints are requests given by users of the postal service in order to communicate that they feel thatthe service provided has not met the standard they expect or the standard the service provider has tocomply with. It is recommended to investigate complaints in order to verify if there is actual non-conformitywith the service and to reply to the complainants.Moreover, complaints should be regarded as the instrument to protect users if the service provider doesnot respect the commitments and promises it has made.The service provider can use complaints in its continuous quality improvement of the postal service. Thelevel of complaints and the reasons for complaints provide important information about the satisfaction ofusers with different aspects of the postal service.There needs to be commitment to effective complaints handling at all levels within the postal organisation.This European Standard has been developed in collaboration with the Universal Postal Union.



EN 14012:2003 (E)51ScopeThis European Standard specifies requirements for the measurement of complaints and redressprocedures related to the domestic and international postal service. It defines various types of complaintsand for each of them establishes a methodology for measuring response rates for their acknowledgement,processing, and resolution by the service provider.It also specifies the requirements for the complaints management system to be set up by the serviceprovider.This European Standard is applicable to all domestic and cross-border services within the universalservice. It can be used for other postal services if appropriate.



EN 14012:2003 (E)62Normative referencesThis European Standard incorporates by dated or undated reference, provisions from other publications.These normative references are cited at the appropriate places in the text, and the publications are listedhereafter. For dated references, subsequent amendments to or revisions of any of these publications applyto this European Standard only when incorporated in it by amendment or revision. For undated referencesthe latest edition of the publication referred to applies (including amendments).EN ISO 19011Guidelines for quality and/or environmental management systemsauditing (ISO 19011:2002)UPU Letter Post Manual1List of Industrialised countries
1 The list comes from the UPU Resolution C32/1999 of the Beijing Congress in 1999.
The document can be obtained via UPU(Universal Postal Union), Case postale 13, 3000 BERNE 15, SWITZERLAND.
www.upu.int



EN 14012:2003 (E)73Terms and definitionsFor the purposes of this European Standard, the following terms and definitions apply.3.1access to customer service information complaintcomplaint about the information provided by the service provider on the specifications of its products andservicesNOTE 1
Examples would be complaints about availability of information on product specifications and prices, aboutincorrect information and advice, or about information on complaints procedures.NOTE 2
Complaints about information provided by a contractor or franchisee of the service provider would beincluded in this category.3.2access to postal services complaintcomplaint about access to postal services at post offices, sorting centres or other postal establishmentsNOTE 1
Examples would be complaints about opening hours at post offices, about queues at post offices, aboutcleanliness of post offices, or about access for disabled and handicapped people.NOTE 2
Complaints about access points for postal services provided by the service provider through franchisedoperations are also included in the access to postal services category of complaints.3.3behaviour and competence of postal employees complaintcomplaint regarding the behaviour of individual postal employees and the way individual employeesoperate postal proceduresNOTE 1
Examples would be complaints about rudeness or behaviour inconsiderate of users of the postal service.NOTE 2
Complaints about mistakes resulting in loss of, damage to or delay to postal items or causing deliveryproblems should be placed in another complaints category.3.4change of address complaintcomplaint about incorrect treatment of postal items that are affected by a permanent or temporary changeof addressNOTE 1
An example of what would warrant a change of address complaint would be failure to redirect letters to aperson’s new address when the service provider has undertaken to do so.NOTE 2
Complaints about temporary changes of address, for example during the summer vacation, or temporarystorage of mail at the post office should be included in this category.3.5compensationremuneration given to a complainant by a service providerNOTE 1
Payments, credit invoices and free gifts or services are all examples of compensation.NOTE 2
Goodwill payments should be treated as compensation payments.3.6complainantany natural or legal person who makes a complaint



EN 14012:2003 (E)83.7complaintcommunication from a complainant about something that does not meet his or her expectations about thepostal service or the “Customer Charter”NOTE 1
In relation with complaints, the expression “postal service” includes claimed or proposed service levels,specific requirements of the postal service, service regulations, and delivery conditions.NOTE 2
Suggestions, communications, service enquiries, and requests for information are not considered ascomplaints.NOTE 3
A “Customer Charter” is a statement published by the service provider containing commitments to customersor users.3.8complaint treatment complaintcomplaint expressing dissatisfaction about the way in which a previous complaint has been treatedNOTE
Reasons for dissatisfaction could include the time taken to handle the complaint or the response received fromthe service provider.3.9cross-border mailmail distributed from one country to anotherNOTE
Cross-border mail includes mail from or to another member state of the European Union and mail from or to athird country.3.10customernatural or legal person having a business relationship with a postal operatorNOTE
A consumer who purchases postal services is a customer.cf. user3.11final replycommunication by means of which the service provider informs a complainant of the results of anyinvestigation caused by a complaint and whether the complaint is considered to be justifiedNOTE
A continued dialogue between the service provider and an unsatisfied customer, after the complainant hasbeen informed about the results of the investigation in the final reply, is considered a new complaint about complainttreatmentcf. complaint handling complaint3.12first replyfirst communication from the service provider to a complainant about a complaintNOTE
The first reply could be an initial acknowledgement or a final reply.3.13general complaintcomplaint that is based on a question of opinion or dissatisfaction in general with the service the postaloperator provides



EN 14012:2003 (E)9NOTE
General complaints are not related to a specific item or items or to a specific customer or postal service usercf. specific complaint3.14handling timeperiod running from the time when the service provider receives the complaint to the time at which theservice provider informs the complainant about the final results of the investigationsNOTE
The time during which the complainant is asked to provide information can be deducted when calculating thehandling time.3.15industrialised countrycountry which is a member state of the European Union or is defined as an industrialised country by theUniversal Postal Union3.16item arriving late complaintcomplaint regarding a postal item delivered to the recipient in a time longer than the service provider’spromised service standard but within a specified period of timeNOTE
The specified period is defined in 5.3 of this European Standard.cf. item lost or substantially delayed complaint.3.17item damaged complaintcomplaint regarding damage to the contents, stamps, or envelope of a postal itemNOTE
To steal the contents in whole or in part of a postal item is an example of damage.3.18item lost or substantially delayed complaintcomplaint regarding a postal item not received, in whole or in part, by the recipient within a specified periodof timeNOTE
The specified period is defined in 5.3 of this European Standard.cf. item arriving late complaint3.19justified complaintcomplaint regarding a subject for which the service provider, after investigation if necessary, recognisesthat it may not have fulfilled its obligations in whole or in partNOTE
Examples of the obligations of the service provider are its general terms and conditions and its regulatory andlegal requirements.3.20mail delivery or collection complaintcomplaint about when, where or how postal items have been delivered at the delivery address or havebeen collectedNOTE
Examples would be complaints about postal items not delivered at the usual time of day, about postal items notproperly delivered into the receiving private letter box, about the location of collection boxes, about the time of daywhen collections are made, and about the frequency of deliveries or collections.



EN 14012:2003 (E)103.21mis-delivery complaintcomplaint about postal item delivered to the wrong address or the wrong addressee3.22specific complaintcomplaint which is based on a question of fact related to a specific customer or postal service user and aspecific instance or a specific postal item or itemsNOTE
A specific complaint may not necessarily lead to redress procedures.cf. general complaint.3.23userany natural or legal person benefiting from universal postal servicesNOTE
A sender or recipient of a postal item is a user.cf. customer



EN 14012:2003 (E)114Making a complaint4.1GeneralA complaint can be made by a user, or by any third party subject to any restrictions under national law. Ifthe complaint is about a postal item, the service provider needs only reply to the person making thecomplaint; there is no need to give the reply to the sender or the recipient of the item unless they havecomplained.4.2Process for making a complaintPersons making a complaint shall be able to do so using any of the generally available means ofcommunication:— By means of a form (paper or electronic) available at every contact point— By telephone— By letter— In other appropriate ways (by e-mail, in person, etc.)The service provider, in agreement with the regulator, shall define a maximum time for the receipt ofcomplaints in each category, taking into account UPU convention and national legislation. For complaintsdealing with a postal item, this time period begins the day after the item was posted. If a complaint isreceived after that maximum time, the complainant shall receive, at least, an explanation that the time limithas expired.The service provider shall provide some means for making a complaint that is easy and free of charge tothe person making the complaint, such as a postage-free letter or at the point of access to postal services.Complaints procedures shall be easy to follow and help shall be available if necessary.The sender of a cross-border postal item shall be able to complain to the service provider with which theitem was posted. The receiver of a cross-border postal item shall be able to complain to the serviceprovider that delivered the item.4.3Information provided to usersInformation provided to users about the ability to complain and how to make a complaint shall be clear,complete and simple. This information shall be displayed in places accessible to users or shall be availableto the user through periodic communications. The information shall also be available by telephone or byface-to-face communication at the post office. The information shall include all the alternative ways ofmaking a complaint. It shall state when the complainant can expect a reply and include a statementsummarising the liability of the postal service provider.All personnel in contact with users shall be able to give information about how to make a complaint.Information on the maximum times within which complaints can be investigated shall be made available tousers.The service provider shall publish the criteria under which a failure of the service provider to fulfil itsobligations shall lead to compensation, how redress procedures are to be operated, and how the level andform of compensation is determined.Information shall be made available to dissatisfied complainants on the possibility of formal arbitration,regulatory or other legal recourse which is available.4.4Information required when making a complaintThe service provider shall where appropriate request and record the following information from the personmaking the complaint:— Name and address of the person making the complaint;



EN 14012:2003 (E)12— Reason for the complaint;— Details relevant to the complaint.If the complaint concerns a postal item, the following information shall also be requested and recorded:— Name and address of the sender and recipient, including the country in which a postal item was postedand to be delivered;— Product or service;— Date and place where the item was posted (if known);— Date and place where the item was delivered (if known);— The contents of the item (if relevant);— If the item was registered or used a service where a record of posting was required: service requested,code number, and other posting details as required by the service provider, e.g. post office.— If there are several operators in the market which could have accepted or delivered the item, it isnecessary to check whether the item was posted or delivered by another operator.If the complaint does not concern a postal item, the following information shall also be requested andrecorded:— Date when the incident occurred;— Place where the incident occurred;— Details of the incident.The person making the complaint shall be advised of the importance of supplying all relevant informationaccurately because the service provider may not be able to investigate the complaint and classify itcorrectly if any of this information is not provided.The service provider may require other relevant information in order to investigate some complaints.NOTE
Sufficient information should be recorded about the product or service of a postal item for it to be possible forthe service provider to identify:— Whether the service is domestic, cross-border within the European Union, or other international;— What the service standard is (cf. 5.3);— Whether a registered service is used.



EN 14012:2003 (E)135Classification of complaints5.1Classification processEvery complaint shall be classified according to whether or not it concerns the universal service. Thisclassification shall be done on the basis of the information that can reasonably be provided by thecomplainant. The complaint shall be classified as concerning the universal service unless there is clearevidence that it concerns only a service outside the universal service. By default, a complaint is assumedto relate to the universal service.Each complaint shall be classified and recorded as one of the categories in 5.2.The service provider may, if required, classify each complaint in a selected category or categories as aspecific or general complaint.The service provider can decide where classification takes place in the complaints handling process, inorder to ensure that all categories of complaints are treated fairly and to demonstrate that this is so. Forexample, the classification of complaints as specific or general can be delayed until after the complaint hasbeen investigated.Communications received through the complaints handling process that are not complaints according tothe definition used in this European Standard shall be identified and classified as such. An example wouldbe a request for information or a service enquiry such as a request for confirmation of delivery. The criteriaused shall be documented and shall be in conformance with the requirements of the regulator.The categorisation of a complaint, including the decision on whether a communication is a complaint ornot, may be changed as a result of investigation of the complaint. In this case it is the final categorisationof the complaint that shall be recorded.The service provider shall have written procedures describing how complaints should be classified anddealing with any ambiguous areas. Quality control checks shall be applied to confirm that theseprocedures are being correctly and consistently applied.Quality control checks shall be made by the service provider to ensure that complaints about the universalservice are not incorrectly recorded as complaints that do not concern the universal service or as othercommunications. To assist in these checks, the number of complaints that do not concern the universalservice and the number of communications that are not defined as complaints shall be recorded andmonitored. They should also be expressed as percentages of the total complaints received.Exceptionally, the service provider may exclude as complaints for the purpose of this standard:a) Petitions and organised campaigns; andb) Persistent malicious or clearly unreasonable communications from the same complainant.All communications excluded for this reason shall be documented and shall be made available for audit.5.2Categories of complaintsFor the measurement of complaints the service provider shall record, at least, separate figures for everycategory of complaint shown in Table 1. If complaints have been classified as “specific” or “general”,separate figures should also be recorded for the number of specific and general complaints in thecategory. The categories shall not be changed but information may also be recorded on sub-componentswithin each category.



EN 14012:2003 (E)14Table 1 — Categories of complaintsItem lost or substantially delayedItem arriving lateItem damagedChange of addressMail delivery or collectionMis-deliveryAccess to customer service informationBehaviour and competence of postal personnelAccess to postal servicesHow complaints are treatedOther complaints (not appropriate to beincluded in the other categories).The service provider shall ensure that all complaints are treated with equal care, regardless of whetherthey are classified as specific or general. Both general and specific complaints provide information aboutthe concerns users have about the postal service.5.3Complaints about lost itemsFor the purpose of classifying complaints, complaints about loss and substantial delay will be recordedtogether. A complaint should be classified as a complaint about loss or substantial delay if the item has notbeen received within the number of days shown in Table 2.NOTE
In Table 2, J + n means an on-time service standard of delivery within n working days after the date of posting.Table 2 — Definition of substantial delayService StandardJ + 1J + 2J + 3Over J + 3or no standardDomestic mail7132027Cross-border mail10203040As Table 2 shows, the minimum time is related to the service standard, e.g. J+1 for domestic first classmail. The column headed “Over J+3” should be used for postal items for which no service standard hasbeen defined. Exceptionally, for cross-border mail on routes where delays of 40 days or more are notunusual a longer period than 40 days may be used to define substantial delay.In determining substantial delay, non-functioning of the service provider and days of strikes or industrialdisputes shall not be discounted. However in the case of “force majeure”, the deduction of thecorresponding period may be considered in agreement with the regulator and shall be indicated in reports.For services where proof of posting is not required, the date of posting claimed by the sender should beaccepted unless there is evidence to doubt it, such as inconsistent or incorrect information within thedetails of the complaint.



EN 14012:2003 (E)156Complaints management system6.1GeneralThe service provider shall have documented procedures for the management of complaints and redress.These documents shall be made available to regulators.The service provider shall have a quality control system to monitor continuously the progress of complaintsthrough the complaints handling and redress process and provide statistical analysis and reports about it(see clause 9).The complaints management system can be used by the service provider for the continuous improvementof the quality of services (i.e. repetitive complaints can often indicate a fault in the services).An example of flow procedures for a complaints management system is shown in annex A.6.2The complaints handling processAlthough the complaints handling procedure has to be designed in a way that takes into account theorganisation of the service provider and allows the service provider to implement a cost effective system,there are nevertheless certain minimum requirements that all processes shall meet. The service providershall ensure that:— Every complaint shall have a unique identification number or code;— Every complaint shall be classified, to establish the category according to the requirements of thisEuropean Standard;— It shall be possible to trace each complaint throughout the whole postal organisation, by theidentification number or code, preferably using a computerised system.All the information about complaints and their progress through the system shall be stored in one or moredatabases so that the information can be used, for example, to provide statistics on the complaintshandling process and to give information to the person who has complained.The requirements in this European Standard for the process for handlin
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