Compliments

We love to know when our customers, members and supporters have had a good experience with us. All compliments are passed on to the relevant team. If you give consent, we use anonymised feedback to support our fundraising, policy and campaign work.

Complaints

We recognise that we sometimes get things wrong. If you tell us you want to make a complaint, we will record your details in our complaints system. And follow our complaints policy. 

If you tell us that you want to make a complaint, we will do our best to investigate the issue as quickly as possible.  How we handle your complaint will depend on whether your complaint is about our fundraising activities. Or about another part of Scope. 

Before you submit your complaint, you might find it helpful to read this page. And read our frequently asked questions. 

Fundraising complaints and feedback

The fastest way to resolve your issue is to telephone or email our Supporter Care Team directly.

Scope’s fundraising activities include:

• door to door fundraising and street fundraising
• digital fundraising
• donations and direct debits
• Scope lottery 
• giving in memory, and leaving a gift in your will
• community and events fundraising

If you need to make a complaint or have feedback to share on our fundraising activities, you can:

• email us supportercare@scope.org.uk
• call us on 0300 222 5744
• write to us at: Scope Supporter Care, Scope, Here East Press Centre, 14 East Bay Lane, London, E15 2GW
• or complete our online complaints form. When you are asked to select the area of Scope your complaint relates to. Please choose Fundraising and Donations.

What information should I provide to make a fundraising complaint?

To help us to investigate and respond as quickly as possible, please tell us:

• the reason for your complaint or feedback
• where and when you had your experience with us  
• the name of anyone involved (if you know this), or a brief description of them  
• what outcome you are hoping for 
• what adjustments we can make to make the process accessible for you
• your contact details (name, address, telephone number or email) so we can respond

What happens next?

We will acknowledge your complaint or feedback within 2 working days. And we aim to investigate and provide you with a response within 5 working days. We will contact you using your preferred contact method. We will keep you updated during the process. This is the end of Scope’s fundraising complaints procedure.

What if I am unhappy with the outcome of my fundraising complaint?

If you are still unhappy, you can take your complaint to an external regulator. 

If you have any questions about our fundraising complaints process, please contact us at supportercare@scope.org.uk

Complaints about other parts of Scope

This is for all complaints that are not about fundraising. It includes complaints about:

• our services
• our shops
• Scope membership
• research panel
• social media
• volunteering for Scope
• volunteer and colleague behaviour
• recruitment 
• our research, policy work and campaigns
• Scope’s media activities. For example, our adverts, news articles and television appearances
• our website

If you need to make a complaint about any of these parts of Scope, you can:

• complete our online complaints form
• call us on 0808 800 3333 and tell the adviser you would like to make a complaint. The adviser will complete the online complaint form for you
• tell a member of staff who will complete the online complaint form for you
• write to us at: Scope Complaints, Scope, Here East Press Centre, 14 East Bay Lane, London, E15 2GW

What information should I provide to make a complaint about other parts of Scope?

The online complaints form will help you to provide all the information we need to help us investigate and respond as quickly as possible. If you are sending your complaint by post, please tell us:

• your full name
• what part of Scope your complaint is about
• as much detail as possible about why you are complaining
• what you would like to see happen, or to improve, as an outcome of your complaint
• what adjustments we can make to make the complaints process accessible for you
• if you want us to contact you about your complaint, please provide your contact details 

What happens next?

We will acknowledge your complaint within 5 working days. And we aim to investigate and provide you with a response within 28 working days. We will contact you using your preferred contact method. And we will keep you updated during the process. We will keep a written copy of the outcome on your complaints file in all cases.

What if I am unhappy with the outcome of my complaint?

You can appeal within 10 working days of receiving the complaint outcome.

We will acknowledge your appeal within 5 working days from the date we receive it. A senior manager or a suitable deputy will consider your appeal. They will not have been part of the original investigation.

Your appeal manager will review the process followed and outcome of your complaint. They will decide whether we need to take any further action. They will notify you of the outcome of your appeal within 14 working days.

The appeal manager’s decision is final and is the end of Scope’s procedure for dealing with complaints. If you are still unhappy, you may be able to take your complaint to an external regulator.

Unacceptable behaviour

Sometimes we receive communication that is persistent or abusive. In these cases, we may decide that there is no further action we can take. And the complaints process will end. Scope will not tolerate abusive behaviour. Or behaviour that threatens the wellbeing of our volunteers, staff or representatives.

Anonymous complaints

We would encourage you to provide us with your details so that we can fully investigate and respond to you. If we receive an anonymous complaint, we will act if we have enough information to investigate. Where we do not have enough information, the complaint will be recorded but we will not be able to take any further action.

Taking your complaint to an external regulator

If you still have concerns, you can take your complaint to:

• The Fundraising Regulator. If you believe Scope has not fully addressed or resolved your fundraising complaint
• The Charity Commission. If you believe we have broken the law or there is a serious risk of harm to us or our beneficiaries 
• The Independent Betting Adjudication Service. If you are unhappy with the running of our lotteries or raffles 
• The Information Commissioner's Office. If you are unhappy with how we use or look after your information 
• The Advertising Standards Authority. If you believe that our marketing is offensive, inaccurate or misleading