How BIAE handled my complaint

BIAE’s Complaints Procedure

BIAE emailed me their complaints procedure when I enquired about making a complaint. BIAE’s complaints procedure is as follows:

  1. Contact the person you want to complain about and tell them why you’re complaining about them. An oddly confrontational approach.
  2. Send a detailed complaint to the secretary who will circulate this to all the board members. Include the name of the member and describe what has happened.
  3. To make the complaint formal, send your complaint to them via post.
  4. In the complaint ‘advise what action you ultimately want to take against our member’.

Every other respectable professional body in the UK has a complaints section on their website, why does BIAE not do the same?

BIAE don’t accept complaints?

After giving me a complaints procedure and receiving my complaint, BIAE responded with the following:

  • BIAE will only investigate a report of substandard practice internally. Only BIAE members are allowed to complain about other members.
  • BIAE cannot accept complaints from the public because they state that they have no legal competence to handle it.
  • BIAE have no problem with having a chairperson whose competence has been called into question.

Naturally, this raises the following questions:

  • Why does BIAE’s complaints procedure not mention that the public cannot complain about poor treatment?
  • Is the existence of BIAE’s complaints procedure proof that they do accept and deal with complaints from the public about their members?
  • Did BIAE’s response to my complaint change when they realised it was about their chairperson?
  • Are BIAE shirking their responsibility as a professional body by refusing to accept complaints from the public about BIAE members whose conduct is poor?

BIAE conducted an investigation?

BIAE swiftly ‘investigated’ themselves and found no wrongdoing.

BIAE showed the chairperson my complaint, asked her for her account and then regurgitated her account to me as though it was established fact.

I was at no point asked to provide my account of what transpired on the day. No-one from BIAE contacted me to discuss my concerns. BIAE only used my complaint and the chairperson’s full account in their botched investigation.

In their outcome letter, they provide no evidence for the conclusions they have arrived at. Their conclusions rely fully on the chairperson’s account.

BIAE fully accepted the chairperson’s account as fact without asking for my side of the story.

BIAE’s outcome clearly shows that they have conducted an unfair and biased investigation and have acted in self-interest and self-protection.

Do BIAE know what they’re doing?

My entire interaction with BIAE shows that they are inconsistent, contradictory, unfair and self-interested.

During my correspondence with BIAE, they have repeatedly shifted goalposts to protect their own interests which explains why their responses have been so contradictory.

  • Even though BIAE are aware of my terrible experience with their chairperson, they refuse to take any action. What level of harm needs to be done for BIAE to take action against their members?

  • What protection do people seeking electrolysis in the UK have against bad treatment and practice if BIAE are unwilling to enforce and uphold standards?
  • Why do the BIAE repeatedly use the words ‘protect’ and ‘safeguard’ to reassure the public when there seems to be no evidence of them proactively doing this?