Unreasonable Customer Contact and Third-Party Harassment Notice

At P J Nicholls Ltd, we want every customer to receive an enhanced customer experience and exceptional service. We recognise that buying, servicing, repairing or financing a vehicle can sometimes be stressful, and that customers may need to raise concerns or make a complaint.

We will listen to concerns fairly and respectfully. In return, we expect everyone who contacts us to treat our colleagues, customers, contractors and visitors with courtesy and respect.

We have a duty to provide a safe, inclusive and respectful workplace. We will not tolerate abusive, threatening, intimidating, discriminatory, sexually harassing or otherwise offensive conduct towards any member of the P J Nicholls team, whether it occurs in person, by telephone, email, letter, messaging service, social media or through another person.

What is unreasonable customer contact?

We regard contact as unreasonable where its nature or frequency hinders our ability to consider a concern or complaint, provide a service, or protect the safety and wellbeing of our people or others.

A customer does not act unreasonably simply because they make a complaint, disagree with an outcome, make a reasonable enquiry, ask for a review, use a representative, or use an appropriate independent escalation route.

However, contact may be unreasonable where it involves one or more of the following.

1. Causing distress, alarm or concern to our people

This includes shouting at, intimidating, threatening or verbally abusing a colleague; using offensive, obscene, insulting, discriminatory or derogatory language; making unwanted sexual comments or advances; or acting in a way that undermines a person’s dignity, safety or wellbeing.

This includes behaviour related to a person’s protected characteristic, such as age, disability, gender reassignment, race, religion or belief, sex or sexual orientation. It also includes harassment online or on social media.

2. Refusing to follow a reasonable process

This includes insisting that a concern or complaint is dealt with outside the scope of, or in a way incompatible with, our published process; attempting to control how we handle contact; setting unrealistic response times; or insisting that only a particular colleague, director or senior manager can deal with the matter when this is not reasonable or appropriate.

3. Refusing to be specific or repeatedly changing the basis of a complaint

This includes continually changing the issues to be investigated, raising unrelated follow-up questions before we have had reasonable time to investigate and respond, or insisting that every question must be answered regardless of relevance to the original concern.

4. Using multiple routes or contacts to pursue the same issue

This includes sending the same concern to several colleagues, branches, departments, managers or communication channels in an attempt to bypass an agreed contact route or obtain a different response.

5. Making excessive demands while a matter is being considered

This includes making numerous calls, emails, messages, letters or visits while an enquiry or complaint is under review; expecting an immediate response to frequent, detailed or lengthy communications; or making demands that prevent our colleagues from progressing the matter or assisting other customers.

6. Repeatedly raising an issue that has been fully considered

This includes refusing to accept a clear, final response after the relevant process has been completed, where no new relevant information has been provided. This does not prevent a customer from using a legitimate review, dispute-resolution or regulatory route.

What we may do

We will consider the circumstances of each case, including any relevant vulnerability, disability, communication need or reasonable adjustment. Where it is safe and appropriate, we will explain the behaviour causing concern and the standard we expect.

To protect our people and to allow a matter to be handled fairly, we may take proportionate steps, including:

• ending a call, meeting or visit that becomes abusive, threatening or unsafe;
• asking that future contact is through one agreed channel, in writing, at agreed times or through a named point of contact;
• limiting repetitive contact or declining to revisit points already fully answered, while considering any material new information;
• requiring appointments for visits to our premises;
• withdrawing permission to attend a P J Nicholls site where necessary to protect colleagues, customers or visitors;
• where appropriate and lawful, requiring contact through a verifiable representative;
• reporting threats, harassment, violence, hate incidents, criminal damage or other suspected criminal conduct to the police or other relevant authority; and
• recording the concern and action taken, and reviewing any restriction at appropriate intervals.

We will use the least restrictive measure that is reasonably necessary. Any restriction on themethod or frequency of communication will not remove our obligation to consider a valid complaint, or any applicable legal, contractual, regulatory or independent dispute-resolution right.

Our commitment to preventing third-party harassment

We do not accept harassment of our colleagues by customers, clients, visitors, suppliers, contractors or any other third party. We encourage employees to report concerns promptly, and we will take reported incidents seriously, respond appropriately and consider what further measures are needed to prevent recurrence.

Complaints and reasonable adjustments

Our Complaints Procedure, https://www.pjnicholls.com/site/complaints/ explains how to raise a concern or complaint, including the relevant escalation routes. If you need a reasonable adjustment to communicate with us or use our complaints process, please contact us using the details below. We will consider requests sensitively and fairly.

Contact us

Customer Services:contact@pjnicholls.com / 01386 555555
Complaints: https://www.pjnicholls.com/site/complaints/
Reasonable-adjustment requests:contact@pjnicholls.com

This notice applies to contact with P J Nicholls Ltd by telephone, email, letter, messaging service, social media, in person and through a representative. It applies to customers, prospective customers and anyone else contacting us about a customer matter.