Complaints Policy

Last updated: 18 April 2026

We want South West Studios to be somewhere you have a good experience. When it's not — whether something's gone wrong with a booking, a session, a staff member, or our website — we want to know about it, and we want to put it right.

How to make a complaint

You can complain in any of these ways:

• Website contact form: send a complaint — please put "Complaint" in the subject line.
• In writing: South West Community Studios CIC, Unit 9, Montgomery Place, Irvine, KA12 8EG.
• In person: speak to whoever is on duty. If the complaint is about them, you can ask to raise it with someone else.

Please tell us:

1. Your name and how to get back to you.
2. What happened, and when.
3. What you'd like us to do to put it right.

You don't have to follow a particular format. Anything you can give us helps.

What happens next

1. Acknowledge — we will confirm receipt within 3 working days.
2. Investigate — we will look into what happened. This may involve speaking to the staff, volunteers, or tutors involved, and reviewing any booking records.
3. Respond — we will give you a full written response within 20 working days of the acknowledgement. If we need longer (for example, if someone is on leave), we'll tell you and set a new deadline.
4. Resolve — where something has gone wrong, we'll tell you what we're going to do about it, and by when.

If you're not happy with our response

If our response doesn't resolve things, reply and let us know why. Your complaint will be reviewed by a different person — a director or a senior member of the team — who wasn't involved the first time round. They'll respond within a further 20 working days.

External routes

If, after that, you're still not satisfied:

• Consumer issues (refunds, service quality): you can contact Citizens Advice Scotland on 0808 800 9060 or advicescotland.co.uk.
• Data protection: the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) at ico.org.uk or 0303 123 1113.
• Discrimination: the Equality Advisory and Support Service at equalityadvisoryservice.com.
• Safeguarding: see the Safeguarding Policy for the relevant statutory contacts.
• CIC governance: the Office of the Regulator of Community Interest Companies at gov.uk/government/organisations/office-of-the-regulator-of-community-interest-companies.

Serious or urgent concerns

If a complaint involves anyone's safety, a suspected crime, or a safeguarding risk, please call 999 immediately. Also raise it with the Designated Safeguarding Lead — see the Safeguarding Policy.

Confidentiality

We take complaints seriously and deal with them confidentially. We will only share the details with the people who need to know to investigate and respond.

What we record

We keep a log of every complaint, what it was about, what we did, and what we learned from it. We review the log at least once a year to see where we can do better. Records are kept for 3 years, then deleted, unless legal or safeguarding reasons require a longer retention.

Anonymous complaints

We will take an anonymous complaint seriously and look into it, but we won't be able to reply to you directly or ask follow-up questions. If you can leave even a contact email we can reach you at, that helps.