Making a complaint or compliment
At the Fairtrade Foundation, we strive to give our supporters the best service we can provide. The dedication and commitment from our supporters is paramount to creating a world where farmers, producers and workers are not exploited for their hard work. This is why we welcome feedback, whether complaint or compliment, so can improve our service and avoid any issues going forward.
We take complaints very seriously. Everyone who makes a complaint to Fairtrade Foundation will be treated with respect and in return, we expect people who make a complaint to communicate their concerns fairly and appropriately. We reserve the right to withdraw or modify our complaints process where complainants harass staff, behave abusively or unreasonably pursue complaints.
In order to monitor and ensure we can improve our supporter services, we log, track and audit our complaints. Our senior management team may periodically assess the complaints log to identify areas for further review or policy development. This information will not necessarily be available to the public.
If you have a general query about our work at Fairtrade Foundation, for example, a request for information, contractual dispute or you wish to unsubscribe from any of our services (such as campaign newsletters), please contact the team that delivered the service who will be pleased to assist you, or use the unsubscribe link at the bottom of our informational emails.
Although you may wish to log your complaint with external organisations, we ask that you please come through our channels and procedure in the first instance.
How can I make a complaint or compliment?
Complaints should be made as soon as possible after the relevant incident and in any event within 3 months. In exceptional cases, Fairtrade may be able to respond to an older complaint but it may be harder to resolve the complaint satisfactorily and fairly after such time.
In order to resolve your complaint, we will need some information from you:
- Your name and contact details
- What your complaint is about
- When and where the issue arose
- If you have already complained, the date on which you did so
- The names of the people involved
- Any related concerns or comments you wish to bring to our attention
If you have any fundraising complaints about the Fairtrade Foundation, please email us at fundraisingcomplaints@fairtrade.org.uk or give us a call on (0)20 7440 7676 (Monday-Friday 9am-5pm)
Alternatively, you can write to us:
Fundraising Team,
The Fairtrade Foundation,
5.7 The Loom,
14 Gower’s Walk,
London, E1 8PY
If you have any other complaint, please refer to our General Complaints Policy.
For all other enquires please contact the relevant team, found here.
What happens next?
We treat all feedback seriously, and endeavour to respond in a timely manner. Once your complaint or compliment has been received, we will respond to you within a maximum of 20 working days of receipt.
If you have submitted a complaint, and the nature of the complaint is more complex and requires further investigation, we may need more than time to respond. In this case, we will let you know within the 20 working days, and inform you of the progress of your feedback and when you should expect a response.
What if I am dissatisfied with the response?
If you have submitted a complaint and you are unhappy with our response, please let us know as soon as possible. Complainants who have made a well-founded serious complaint but the complaint is not upheld, will be able to appeal the decision. Your appeal will be escalated to one of the senior leadership team, a review of the response to your complaint will take place and a decision made after an examination of the processes that have led to the previous response. You will be notified of the outcome of the appeal within a further 20 working days of receipt of the appeal notice.
Can I take a complaint further?
We will always aim to resolve your complaint, but if you feel we haven’t, then there is no further appeal process. However, you can raise the matter with an external regulatory organisation using the contacts below.
Please direct your fundraising complaint to the Fundraising Regulator within two months of our final response.
If the complaint relates to the Fairtrade Foundation’s advertising or email/postal mail received, please contact the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA).
For serious concerns against the Foundation such as harmful/illegal activity or misuse of funds, please contact us in the first instance and if you are not satisfied with our response, contact the Charity Commission, which is a governmental body.
If the complaint relates to the protection of your personal information, please contact us or the Information Commissioner’s office (ICO).
If the complaint relates to other matters, please see our General Complaints Policy.