Complaints - Complaint handling

For ABIS, quality is of great importance. This is reflected in all its (also supporting) business processes: a careful and punctual administrative processing of registrations, a quick and adequate response to questions from customers, and a flexible offer based on the question asked.

If our offer does not meet the expectations of the customer, the customer can file a complaint with ABIS.

ABIS strives to process / close every complaint within a period of 2 weeks.

Complaints are handled in strict confidentiality.

Complaints can be submitted:

  • on the evaluation form at the end of a training
  • by email, at training@abis.be, up to 5 working days after the end of a course
  • by letter, addressed to ABIS Training & Consulting Belgium, for General Manager, Diestsevest 32 bus 4b, 3000 Leuven, up to 5 working days after the end of a course
  • by letter, addressed to ABIS Training & Consulting Nederland, for General Manager, Postbus 122, 3440 AC Woerden, up to a maximum of 5 working days after the end of a course

Process of complaint handling

  1. Handling of complaint.

    2. An ABIS employee - secretariat, teacher, manager - receives the complaint and informs the project manager / account manager / teacher. Complaints and / or comments included on the evaluation form will always be processed automatically. The General Manager is informed in his capacity as the person ultimately responsible for handling complaints.

    The complaining party is immediately informed of the receipt of the complaint. An accompanying letter with the course of the procedure is added; the details of the person responsible for handling the complaint appointed by ABIS are also stated.

  2. Investigation of the complaint - handling.
    1. Legality of the complaint

      2. In this phase it is initially checked, in consultation with the parties involved, whether the complaint is legitimate.

      Every complaint is legitimate if it is received within 5 working days following the end of a session; other complaints are not lawful and are not formally dealt with. However, ABIS will informally contact the party involved.

    2. Inventory and documentation

      3. ABIS contacts the complaining party to obtain a clear insight into the cause / context / background of the complaint. The lecturer, and possibly involved account managers, infrastructure managers, and administrative staff are also heard.

      Analysis and evaluation of the complaint can, among other things, be done on the basis of the evaluation forms cited earlier - completed in public courses by various independent participants. These forms will serve as a guide. Course descriptions, content of (customized) quotes, ... can also be used for this purpose.

    3. Conclusions

      4. Based on the information obtained in (b), ABIS draws conclusions and / or makes proposals - see point 4.

      The information obtained - and the conclusions - are formally registered in a complaint document / aftercare document, as well as in customer-specific documentation (CRM).

    If it is clear that the problem is mainly the result of poor prior knowledge of the course participant, ABIS cannot assume any responsibility for this.

    Effective knowledge acquisition requires commitment: a constructive attitude towards fellow students and towards the teacher. Willingness to actively participate in discussions, in labs is crucial. Teachers will address this to participants if they are not prepared to make this commitment. Problems caused by this are the responsibility of the participant / client.

  3. Feedback.

    4. The person responsible for handling the complaint informs the person reporting the complaint about the (progress of the) handling. This happens during the different phases of the investigation of the complaint as described in point 2.. Any delays - and the reasons for this, as well as expected consequences in terms of planning - are further explained.

  4. Aftercare & remediation.

    5. If it is concluded that certain problems are the responsibility of ABIS, the General Manager will propose corrective and remedial measures.

    1. Problems with regard to non-technical infrastructure (lunch, drinks, parking garage, heating, ...). In close consultation with the client, ABIS will examine what can happen to resolve the problem.
    2. Problems related to technical infrastructure (hardware, software, ...). In consultation with the client, the consequences of this are checked. In any case, ABIS will do everything possible to prevent a recurrence of the problem. If, as a result of this, the course has not produced the desired results, ABIS will work out remedial proposals.
    3. Problems arise at the hands of the teacher. Reasons could be: poor didactic knowledge, poor technical knowledge. ABIS will do everything possible to solve the problem. Which method will be applied will be determined in consultation with the customer, for example:
    • e-learning for the participant with a knowledge gap;
    • attending another (public) session again;
    • individual remediation.
  5. Archiving.

    6. Complaint file is closed and permanently archived.

    Archived complaints are treated confidentially.

  6. Analysis.

Complaints are analyzed; if there is reason to do so and after consultation with those involved, measures to improve and / or prevent measures will be taken. Reports are made/used during the annual evaluation interviews of the General Manager with all employees.

Appeal procedure - mediator.

ABIS has appointed Edward de Wolf as an independent and impartial mediator for handling complaints if the conclusions proposed by ABIS, as well as their handling / remedy / aftercare are not considered fair. The intention is to engage a neutral person to eliminate the problems that arise between the complainant and ABIS. The parties involved will accept the mediator's decisions and implement them in all reasonableness.

The contact details of the mediator can be requested from ABIS.