Complaints Policy 

AHEAD are committed to dealing effectively with any complaints you may have about our services. AHEAD's Complaints Policy sets out the mechanism for those whom we engage with on how to complain and to ensure that all complaints are considered and responded to promptly, fairly and sensitively. AHEAD aims to use the information garnered from complaints to learn, adapt and improve our services.

Feedback

If you have feedback for AHEAD on its services but do not wish to make a formal complaint, please contact us using the query form. 

What can you Make a Complaint About?  

AHEAD can only investigate complaints that are directly related to AHEAD staff and services within AHEAD, e.g., AHEAD’s Information Line, WAM placements, UDL Badge, AHEAD Conference, GetAHEAD events, etc. Complaints regarding external stakeholders that AHEAD engages with will be directed to their respective complaints’ procedures, however AHEAD may liaise with external stakeholders to support resolution of the complaint.

Complaints should be raised as soon as possible after the incident has occurred. It is recommended that complaints are made within 14 working days of the incident(s) occurring, however all complaints will be considered. 

Informal Resolution

AHEAD believes it is best to deal with things as soon as possible and in the easiest and most direct way, if possible. If you have a complaint, you should first try to raise it with the person you are dealing with. They will try to resolve it for you; however, they may need time to look into it, which typically may take up to five working days, or longer where a resolution is complex.

If there are any lessons to learn from addressing your informal complaint, staff will draw them to the attention of AHEAD’s Senior Leadership Team.

If the AHEAD staff member you are liaising with cannot help in resolving your complaint informally, they will explain why and you may then request a formal investigation of your complaint following the procedures below, if you wish.

Making a Formal Complaint 

You can make a complaint in any of the following ways:

1. Written Complaint Form: You can ask for a copy of our complaint form from the person with whom you are already in contact with or download a copy of our Complaint Form here. 
   1. The completed form should then be emailed to ahead@ahead.ie.
   2. You can also post the form to AHEAD, East Hall, UCD Michael Smurfit Business School, Carysfort Ave, Blackrock, Co.Dublin. However, please be mindful that post collections are ad-hoc and resolution of your complaint may be delayed using this method.
2. Telephone or Online: Alternatively, AHEAD can organise a call with you, either over the phone or online, to fill in the complaint form. To arrange this, you should email ahead@ahead.ie.

Download AHEAD's Complaints Policy Download AHEAD's Complaint Form All complaints will be treated as confidential and information shared will only be passed to others on a ‘need to know’ basis. We will make sure that your interactions with us, either ongoing or in the future, are not adversely affected as a result of your complaint.

If you require any additional supports in completing the complaint process due to a disability, for example, you require Irish Sign Language interpretation, please let us know by emailing ahead@ahead.ie and we will do our best to assist you.