Latest news with #complaints
Argaam
3 days ago
- Business
- Argaam
GACA issues classification for air carriers, airports in April 2025
The General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) issued the index for the classification of air transport services providers and airports based on the number of complaints filed by travelers to the authority in April 2025. The total number of complaints submitted by passengers against airlines stood at 1,270. The least complaints were filed against flynas with 22 complaints per 100,000 passengers. The state-run airline recorded a timely complaint-handling rate of 100%. Saudi Arabian Airlines (Saudia) ranked second, with 23 complaints and a closure rate of 99%. Meanwhile, Flyadeal came third, with 38 complaints per 100,000 passengers, reporting a timely complaint closure rate of 100%. The most frequent complaints for April were about tickets, followed by luggage and passenger services. Prince Mohammad Bin Abdulaziz International Airport in Madinah reported the lowest number of complaints, recording two or 0.2% per 100,000 passengers, among international airports that receive over six million passengers annually, with a timely complaint closure rate of 100%. For international airports that receive less than six million passengers annually, Abha International Airport reported the lowest complaints, at a rate of 1% per 100,000 passengers. Among domestic airports, King Saud Bin Abdulaziz Airport was the least airport complained about, at a rate of 3% per 100,000 passengers with a timely complaint-handling rate of 100%. GACA stated that the monthly index is developed to inform travelers about service quality, promote transparency, and encourage healthy competition in the aviation sector.
RNZ News
3 days ago
- Business
- RNZ News
Health and Disability Commission says operating budget $1.9m less than previous years
The Health and Disability Commission lost nearly 10 percent of its funding in this year's Budget. Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone The Health and Disability Commission cannot yet confirm whether it will have to make any staff redundant after losing nearly 10 percent of its funding in this year's Budget. A spokesperson for the consumer health watchdog said the total operating budget was $1.9 million less than in previous years. "This is due to the end of time-limited funding ($2.9m) that was provided in 2021 and extended for 2024/25." That has been "partly offset" by an extra one-off $1m for the 2025/26 year to help the HDC clear a backlog of complaints. When asked whether any jobs would be lost as a result, the commission said no decisions had been made. "We are not in a position to comment any further until we have completed engagement with our staff. "We remain committed to fulfilling our critical function to uphold people's rights and manage complaints." The $2.9m in time-limited funding was introduced by the Labour Government in 2021, to ensure the HDC had capacity to protect the rights of patients using assisted dying services. The new government axed the funding in its 2024 Budget, but subsequently extended it for another year. According to its 2024 annual report, the number of complaints to the HDC increased 52 percent over five years. The 3628 complaints received by HDC in 2023/24 was the highest number of complaints ever received in a single year, which placed significant pressure and led to delays in resolving some of them. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
RNZ News
3 days ago
- General
- RNZ News
Firefighters Union calls for independent inquiry into FENZ's complaints process
FENZ chief executive & national commander Kerry Gregory. Photo: RNZ / Marika Khabazi The Professional Firefighters' Union is calling for independent inquiry by the Auditor General into Fire and Emergency New Zealand's complaints process. Fire and Emergency New Zealand (FENZ) has apologised unreservedly to a former volunteer firefighter for failing to properly investigate a series of complaints. It has been nearly 10 years since Sarah Hullah made her first complaint to FENZ about sexual harassment. Now an 111-page independent report by Simon Mount KC, released on Wednesday, details 33 failings by FENZ over the way it handled her initial complaint, and several after that. These include failure to comply with its own processes, conflicts of interest, unreasonable delays, and a failure to learn from at least two previous, highly critical external reviews. FENZ chief executive and national commander Kerry Gregory said significant changes to the way complaints were managed had been made, including introducing an independent service that specialises in conflict resolution and complaint management. However, The Professional Firefighters Union secretary Wattie Watson told Nine to Noon that nothing had changed and Fire and Emergency's complaints system was neither independent, nor fair. "Many, many, many of those 33 findings of that report are still occurring today," she said. She said the Union was now calling for a proper inquiry into what has occurred. "The report into Sarah's case is a very good springboard for that because it shows - particularly from 2019 onwards - no matter what FENZ has put in place it has not worked, and it has not changed the fairness in the workplace whatsoever," she said. The Union wanted something similar to an Auditor General Inquiry. "There needs to be a really robust inquiry, I'd be interested to know what FENZ has spent on trying to not deal with Sarah's case. "We need an inquiry because this is utter mismanagement. The CEO and the Board need to be held to account, and the staff and volunteers at FENZ deserve a fair process to have their matters addressed," she said. National Secretary of the Professional Fire Fighters' Union Wattie Watson. Photo: Supplied/ Nudo Group The union had previously believed that FENZ could manage its own complaints process, but Watson said this report confirmed they could not and should not. "We now believe it has to be a completely independent external body to handle that process, and mainly because of the protections that are going on in management," Watson said. Watson said one of the key problems was that many of those working at FENZ were inexperienced because the bulk of employees were firefighters. "We have cases currently where the head of finance is going to be making a decision on whether the actions of someone in a hot fire situation acted appropriately in how they interacted with someone else at the scene," she said. Watson said the Union has no faith in FENZ and if an employee or volunteer makes a complaint against someone in higher management or high leadership, then they won't have a fair and proper process. "We have experience where there are managers that are subject to repeated complaints and are never investigated, in fact they are protected. "We have situations where management have coerced, pressured or put unreasonable restriction in place - particularly by a refusal to manage conflicts of interest, to make sure those complaints don't go anywhere else. "We've got examples where people have complained about the behaviours of managers, relatively high level managers, and yet they've ended up with disciplinary action against them," Watson said. FENZ chief executive and national commander Kerry Gregory said he apologised "publicly and unreservedly to Ms Hullah for the failure to properly investigate". He said FENZ had accepted all 33 findings, and separately, reached a resolution with Hullah. The organisation continued to work on a programme to change its culture, "to create a safer, more positive and inclusive environment for all our people. We are striving to become a different organisation". Already, significant changes had been made to how complaints were managed, including introducing an independent service that specialises in conflict resolution and complaint management. "Bullying, harassment and victimisation have no place in Fire and Emergency, and we take all allegations of any such behaviour very seriously. I am committed to creating an environment where everyone feels safe, and that any complaints are handled appropriately," he said. "I am confident that if complaints like those addressed in the review occurred today, they would be handled through a more robust and transparent process." He would not be drawn on whether people found at fault, whose names had been redacted from the report, had been moved out of their positions within FENZ. "The people involved haven't been given the tools to do it well, and the process didn't support them to do that well, so anyone who was involved through the 10-year period who may or may not still be in the organisation, wasn't necessarily well supported by the organisation as a whole." Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
The Guardian
3 days ago
- Business
- The Guardian
Vet complaint process in UK often ‘stacked against pet owners'
Britain's pet owners often face an uphill struggle when they are unhappy with their vet because the industry's complaints system is not fit for purpose, according to a leading consumer body. The findings from Which? that the complaints process 'is often stacked against pet owners' come as the UK competition watchdog is investigating the veterinary sector amid concerns that above-inflation price hikes and other issues mean consumers are not getting a fair deal. Well more than half of UK households have one or more pets, with numbers increasing dramatically during the pandemic. However, Which? said pet owners were often put off making a complaint when there was a problem, and that those who did often had limited options for taking the matter forward or were left feeling their issue had been unfairly dismissed. Rocio Concha, director of policy and advocacy at the consumer body, said: 'It is completely unjust that many pet owners feel not only unhappy with the service and treatment received by their vet when their pet is taken ill, but also lack the means to make a complaint that will be properly investigated.' In its survey of more than 1,000 pet owners who had experienced some kind of problem with their vet during the past two years, pricing was the most common issue raised. More than half said the price of care or treatment was excessive, while more than a quarter said the cost was higher than they thought it would be. The third most common issue was quality of care, followed by customer service, not being given the relevant information, being charged the wrong price, and the vet or practice making a mistake. The first port of call when making a complaint is usually the practice itself. Many of the pet owners in the survey who had been put off making a claim said they did not think they would be successful, did not want to fall out with their vet, or did not know how to complain in the first place. 'Very few' owners then went on to escalate the complaint, and those who did found that the options available were often inadequate, said Which?. There is the Veterinary Client Mediation Service (VCMS), but this is a voluntary complaints scheme. Meanwhile, the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS) has the responsibility for investigating all 'concerns' raised with it about vets – but Which? claimed it had 'very high thresholds' for investigating and progressing a complaint, 'leaving pet owners feeling dismissed, or that the process is biased in favour of veterinary professionals'. Steph Drew, from Lincoln, told Which? that the complaints system was 'designed to protect vets'. Her dog Daisy was left injured when her vet operated on the wrong leg. Drew complained to the RCVS, but her case was initially dismissed after a year, said the consumer organisation. After appealing against the decision, the case went on for three years, finally ending in a disciplinary hearing. The vet has now been struck off and found by the RCVS to have failed to provide adequate care to 18 animals in total, said Which?. Earlier this month the UK Competition and Markets Authority – which has been investigating rising costs and other issues in the multibillion-pound sector – said it had 'concerns that … firms' internal complaint handling processes may be inconsistent and operate poorly, and that the external redress mechanism provided by the VCMS is not as effective as it could be'. It also found there were 'shortcomings' with the RCVS code of conduct. Sign up to Headlines UK Get the day's headlines and highlights emailed direct to you every morning after newsletter promotion A VCMS spokesperson told Which? it could not comment on individual cases but added: 'Last year we received more than 3,500 inquiries from pet owners, and the VCMS helped resolve over 80% of complaints … It continues to develop the mediation process to improve outcomes and satisfaction for consumers and practice teams, as well as the delivery of veterinary care.' The RCVS said it had been asking the government to reform the current legislation 'for some years', adding: 'Our current remit is relatively narrow and focuses on regulating the individual professionals and not practices, which have never been regulated. We support proposals to enhance consumer protection, and mandatory practice regulation.' It said that under current legislation it could only investigate allegations of serious professional misconduct. A spokesperson added that 'the facts presented in the [Which?] case studies do not completely align with those reported to us'.
RNZ News
3 days ago
- General
- RNZ News
FENZ complaints system neither independent, nor fair: Union
The Professional Fire Fighters Union says Fire and Emergency's complaints system is neither independent, nor fair. FENZ has apologised unreservedly to a former volunteer firefighter for failing to properly investigate a series of complaints, which began nearly a decade ago. A scathing 111 page independent report by Simon Mount KC, issued yesterday, details a list of 33 failings by FENZ in handling her initial complaint and several after that. These include failure to comply with its own processes, conflicts of interest, and unreasonable delays, and a failure to learn from at least two previous, highly critical external reviews. FENZ Chief Executive & National Commander Kerry Gregory says significant changes to how complaints are managed have been made including introducing an independent service that specialises in conflict resolution and complaint management. He says the complaints service puts people at the heart of the investigation and is robust and transparent. But the Professional Firefighters Union, which represents more than two thousand paid firefighters, disagrees. Union Secretary Wattie Watson joins Susie. To embed this content on your own webpage, cut and paste the following: See terms of use.
