Complaints
Complaints Process
From raising a complaint to an impartial answer — the commitments in full.
Scope
Complaints and appeals both sit within this policy's scope, and both are welcome.
- Complaint. Any expression of dissatisfaction concerning a service arranged through cmmcalibrationcleveland.com, or concerning a certificate or report issued in connection with one.
- Appeal. A request to reconsider a decision already taken: a statement of conformity, the rejection of an item at review, or the outcome of an earlier complaint.
Both are handled the same way under this policy — as evidence about the process, not as a nuisance.
Last updated: October 9, 2026.
How to Raise One
The route for a complaint or an appeal is the contact page, which also lists the contact details for the receiving desk.
Five things speed up an answer: the quotation or certificate number, the item concerned, the date of the work, what was expected, and what occurred, plus the outcome sought.
None of that is mandatory, because complaints are accepted in any form, and a missing reference number is never a reason for delay.
Handling and Response
Receipt is acknowledged within three (3) business days.
The complaint is then recorded, validated, and investigated by a person who was not involved in the work being complained about, so that the review is impartial. Where the work was performed by an external laboratory, the matter is raised with that laboratory in parallel and its findings form part of the response.
Within twenty (20) business days of acknowledgement, a written response is issued setting out the findings, the decision, and any corrective action. Where an investigation needs longer than that, an interim response is issued explaining why and giving a revised date. Gathering and verifying the evidence, and deciding the outcome, are done by people with the competence to judge the technical question at issue.
Appeals and Escalation
Within thirty (30) days of the response, an appeal against a rejected outcome may be made. Someone who took no part in the original decision carries out the review, and reasons follow within twenty (20) business days.
An unresolved matter, where an accredited laboratory performed the work, can still be escalated to that laboratory's accreditation body.
Keeping Records Fairly
Records are kept of complaints, appeals, investigations and outcomes, and retained. Periodically the record is reviewed for patterns that point to a systemic cause, and corrective actions are tracked to closure with their effectiveness checked afterwards.
Raising a complaint or an appeal disadvantages no customer, and has no effect on the handling of other work. The quality system page describes the management arrangements this process sits inside.