Our commitment
We aim to provide a high standard of accommodation and service, and to deal with concerns fairly, professionally and promptly. When something goes wrong, we want you to tell us so we can put it right and improve. Making a complaint will never mean you're treated less favourably.
Before making a formal complaint
Many day-to-day issues can be sorted quickly. For a repair or maintenance problem, report it in the Zone app first. Keep reporting any ongoing or recurring problem each time it happens, even if you've also complained about how it's been handled.
If you're still unhappy with the service, how an issue was handled or the outcome, you can make a formal complaint.
How to complain
You can complain by email, by letter, or in a virtual or face-to-face meeting. Writing is best, so there's a clear record. If you can't put your complaint in writing, contact us and we'll help you record it.
Please include as much of this as you can:
- your full name and contact details
- your building and studio or room number
- what you're complaining about, and the dates
- any repair or reference numbers
- photos, videos, emails or other evidence
- anything already done to try to resolve it
- the outcome you're looking for
Confidentiality
We handle complaints sensitively. We only share information with staff, contractors, landlords, professional advisers or others where it's needed to investigate or resolve the complaint, meet our obligations, or protect residents or others. If your complaint is about a member of staff, they won't take part in deciding it.
Stage 1 - formal complaint
- We'll acknowledge your complaint within 3 days.
- Someone appropriate will look into it, review the records and evidence, and speak to staff, contractors or others where needed.
- We'll send a full written response within 10 days. If it's complex and needs longer, we'll write within those 10 days to explain why and when you'll hear from us.
- Our response will explain what we found and what we'll do, with a timetable. Where we agree an outcome that needs action from us, we'll complete it within 10 days of agreeing it.
Stage 2 - review
If you're unhappy with our Stage 1 response, you can ask for a review - normally within 10 days of receiving it, though we'll accept a later request if there's a good reason for the delay.
Tell us which part of the response you disagree with and why, any evidence you think was missed, any new information, and the outcome you're looking for.
Wherever possible, the review will be done by someone who wasn't involved at Stage 1. We'll acknowledge your request within 3 days and aim to send our final written response within 10 days. If we need longer, we'll explain why and when you'll hear from us. The Stage 2 response is our final response under this procedure.
Having someone help you
You can ask someone to help you - for example a parent, guardian, Students' Union representative or adviser. Email us to say who they are and that you're happy for us to share information with them.
Rent while a complaint is open
Making a complaint doesn't pause your rent or other payments, unless we confirm otherwise in writing. A complaint about a payment or charge will still be looked at fairly and separately.
Putting things right
Where appropriate, we'll take reasonable steps to put things right. Depending on the circumstances, this could be an apology, corrective action, repaying reasonable costs you can evidence, or a goodwill payment. A financial remedy doesn't mean we accept legal liability unless we say so.
The National Code
We are members of the ANUK/Unipol National Code for Non-Educational Establishments. Please complete our procedure first before raising a possible breach of the Code. If we haven't responded fully within 28 days of your complaint, you can go to the Code's Complaints Investigator without waiting for our procedure to finish. If you're unhappy with our final response, you can also escalate to the National Code.
National Code complaints: https://www.nationalcode.org/for-students/problems-complaints/
The National Code looks at whether the Code has been breached. It doesn't replace any other legal rights you have.
Contact
Email: bookings@thestudentzone.co.uk - please use the subject "Formal complaint - [building and studio number]".
Post: Formal Complaint, Zone, 9 De Montfort Mews, Leicester, LE1 7FW
If you need help making a complaint, or would like this procedure in another format, please contact us.