PPC115 | Member benefit

BPCA Technical Manager Natalie Bungay is responsible for investigating complaints and ensuring that BPCA members comply with BPCA’s standards. Nat examines the process and how the new alternative dispute resolution (ADR) scheme could be a fantastic new member benefit for your company.

Before we discuss the BPCA complaints process and how we deal with them, it’s crucial to set out readers’ expectations – a key to all successful communication, and a significant step in dispute resolution.
BPCA has one overriding goal: to drive excellence in pest management. This is our motto and our mantra. It means that we want to provide the end-user with a reliable route for contracting a professional pest management service. 

We do this in many ways, such as ensuring qualified pest professionals have continual professional development, Codes of Conduct and Best Practice, and a detailed in-person assessment process. 

We also do this by providing the consumer with a route for raising concerns and complaints about any work a member company may have carried out. This provides confidence and an element of security in that the consumer can have support at hand if, in unfortunate circumstances, they’re not happy with a service they receive from a BPCA member. 

This is also a benefit to members as consumers will actively seek out the BPCA logo because they have this extra level of support. 

We don’t see complaints as a smear on your company’s reputation. We see them as an opportunity to put the spotlight on an area of work that may have fallen short. Through this spotlight, we can work together to raise standards and, ultimately, improve the pest management industry.

What kind of complaints does BPCA deal with?

BPCA is a membership organisation and, as such, can only deal with complaints that are related to member companies. 

For any customer who experiences a bad service and cannot resolve the issues directly with the organisation, BPCA can assist in reaching an amicable solution by working with both parties. This is referred to as mediation.

BPCA can take complaints regarding: 

• Poor pest control service (public health, wildlife)
• Poor customer service standards 
• Suspected illegal conduct 
• Unprofessional conduct 
• Concerns over health, safety and well-being.

However, we can’t look at complaints about:

• Issues that happened more than a year ago (unless there are special circumstances)
• Employment, personnel or most contractual matters
• Legal proceedings are already underway
• Non-member companies
• Non-pest control-related services (for example, specialist cleaning)
• Hearsay, opinion, informal second opinions or complaints lacking evidence.

What is ADR and what’s changed?

An ADR scheme is a way of resolving disputes between consumers and traders without going to court. 

BPCA has always provided a route for customers to raise concerns about its members – this hasn’t changed.

However, after refining some processes and changing the way we keep records, BPCA is now an ADR scheme provider certified via the Chartered Trading Standards Institute.

The law and ADR

Alternative Dispute Regulations 2015 introduced the need for traders doing business with consumers to be able to point to an ADR scheme when in dispute.

The regulations did not make participation in ADR schemes mandatory for traders, but they required almost all businesses that sell directly to consumers – and cannot resolve a dispute in-house – to point them to a certified ADR scheme and declare whether or not they intend to use that scheme.

Government has been slow to ensure this regulation has been adopted. However, ADR has come back into focus as a key element of necessary post-Brexit legislation.

The Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Bill is working its way through Parliament, and it aims to lay down a duty on the trader to notify consumers of ADR arrangements and will cover:

• The making of the contract
• Anything done by the trader before or after making the contract
• Any obligations of the trader under or relating to the contract
• The performance by the trader of its obligations under or relating to the contract. bills.parliament.uk/bills/3453

The Bill states the trader must, when communicating the outcome of the trader’s consideration of the complaint to the consumer, also inform the consumer about any ADR or other available arrangement if the consumer is dissatisfied with the outcome.

hearsay /ˈhɪəseɪ/ [ heeuh-say ] noun. Information received from other people which cannot be substantiated; rumour. “I’ve heard that Roadkill Pest Control is selling mousetraps to school children.”

What happens when BPCA receives a complaint?

The first thing we will do is listen to the complainant and understand what they are experiencing, both good and bad. These notes are taken in various ways but normally via email and phone conversations. Often, a complaint is easy to deal with, and we’re dealing with a little miscommunication that is resolved by a simple conversation. 

However, sometimes the issues may be a little more complicated. That’s when a consumer can utilise the BPCA complaints page at bpca.org.uk/complaints. This sets out the expectations for how complaints are handled.  We then require a form to be submitted detailing the intricacies of the complaint.

The next stage is for BPCA to contact the member in question. This is, where possible, done initially by telephone and then followed up by an email with the complaint details attached. 

We always like to speak with members before sending out an email that states ‘complaint received’ in the title, as this can sometimes seem worrying for members. But we always want to ensure that our members see this process as a benefit to them and the consumer. Who wouldn’t want to know about consumer issues where their business reputation is at risk? 

Following these initial communications with the complainant and the member, BPCA will ask for feedback from both sides. Depending on the complaint’s intricacies, this process can take anywhere from two weeks to two months to complete. 

BPCA works hard at making sure the consumer goes away happy and the member company has benefitted from the support and guidance of the Association. 

What about members complaining about members?

Dissatisfaction between members can arise because of misunderstandings or a breakdown in communication and can often be resolved by direct discussion with the fellow member concerned.

Respectfully reaching out to a fellow member to raise a concern almost always results in positive actions. We just need to keep it civil!

If your own efforts to resolve a grievance fail, then the Association may be able to investigate the matter on your behalf. 

Any complaint must be made in writing to the Chief Executive. A letter (ideally on your company letterhead) should be sent to the Association’s Derby office setting out the details of your complaint. 

The letter must include copies of all correspondence between yourself and your fellow member and any evidence of the alleged improper conduct. It should be noted that hearsay is not acceptable evidence and will not be considered.

Want to complain about someone who is not a member?

BPCA can only take complaints regarding our own members. If there is a concern about a non-member pest control company, consider the following:

• If the company is a member of another trade association then report to them in the first instance
• If the company is suspected of breaking the law then report them to the appropriate authority (see table).

Does anyone ever really get kicked out of the Association?

Members do get removed from membership if they fail to meet membership criteria or refuse to take remedial action when a complaint is made. This is pretty rare, as we work closely with members to put things right when they go wrong. Members are expelled by the BPCA Executive Board. 

Expulsions for non-compliance: 2024  2 members (to April); 2023  3 members; 2022  3 members.

Reporting authorities for suspected breaches of the law