Members complaints policy
The Art Gallery Society of NSW strives to provide members with the highest level of customer service and will endeavour to resolve complaints in a timely manner.
Who to contact
If the complaint relates to one of the events for members organised by the Society, we recommend you do any one of the following:
if the issue arises prior to the event, report the complaint to the Society’s ticketing officer using one of the contact methods listed below.
if the issue arises at the time of the event, inform event staff as soon as possible in order to give staff the opportunity to resolve the problem in time for you to properly enjoy the rest of the event.
if the issues arises after the event, contact us by one of the methods listed below so we can put you in touch with the correct person to have your complaint addressed.
How to contact us
We aim to make it as easy as possible for you to bring issues to our attention, so we provide a range of methods by which you can make a complaint to us:
telephone during business hours (02) 9225 1878
mail Batsheva Abrahams, Art Gallery Society of NSW, Art Gallery of NSW, Art Gallery Road, The Domain NSW 2000
What information to provide
To ensure that we can respond to your complaint quickly, please provide:
your contact details, including membership number if applicable
the name or nature of the event, if applicable, as well as the date and location
details of the circumstances surrounding your complaint, in as much detail as possible
If you need assistance in describing or making a complaint, or if you just want to discuss your concerns informally before deciding whether to make a complaint, please feel free to contact us.
How your complaint will be handled
Our complaints officer will oversee the complaints process on behalf of the Society. That person is responsible for liaising with you and with other staff members in the Society to ensure that the issues you have raised are fully examined, and that your complaint is handled in accordance with this policy.
We will always try to give you a fair opportunity to explain your case. You should make your initial complaint as clear as possible, and provide all the supporting material you can.
Timing
We encourage you to resolve any complaint at the earliest possible opportunity.
You should submit your complaint within one week of the incident. The Society may (but is not required to) investigate complaints received after this time.
The length of time the Society takes to resolve your complaint will depend on the nature and the complexity of the issues you have raised and the extent of the inquiries we have to make in deciding how to address those issues.
Our aim is to resolve all complaints during your first contact.
As a guide, we have set the following time standards which we will aim to achieve in most cases:
For complaints received via telephone, our representative will work with you to resolve the issue during your call.
If the matter cannot be resolved immediately, we will endeavour to have the issue resolved within 10 business days.
The maximum amount of time you can expect your complaint to be resolved is 20 business days from the time we receive your complaint. If you request, we can provide you with all decisions reached relating to your complaint in writing.
If you indicate to us that you are satisfied with this response, or we do not hear from you within 30 business days of our response, we will consider the matter closed. If you are not satisfied with our response, we will reconsider it if you provide additional material to us, and we will then provide a further response within 20 business days.
We will do our best to keep you informed of progress as we examine your complaint and decide how to respond to it, especially if it looks like we won’t meet the time standards set out above.
Complaints that will not be investigated
The Society is not required to investigate anonymous complaints, informal complaints or complaints that are frivolous, vexatious or not made in good faith. Complaints made regarding the speed with which events are sold out and subsequent lack of places cannot be investigated as our event numbers are restricted and every endeavour is made to inform members when event tickets will be released.
What happens if your complaint is upheld
If we decide your complaint is justified, we will then decide what action we should take in response.
We will always try to match our response to the nature of your complaint and the effect it has had on you, and we will try to discuss our response with you before making any final decisions.
Some of the things we might do include:
notifying the relevant staff member of the complaint
providing you with additional information or documentation so you can understand the circumstances surrounding the incident or issue
taking steps to change our policies, procedures or systems if your complaint exposes a systemic or recurring problem in the way we do things