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The mystery shopping exercise looked at what happens to a complaint when it enters the Â鶹Éç system. In 2010/11 the Â鶹Éç received 240,000 complaints of which 23 per cent were made by phone, 74 per cent by email and three per cent by letter. The Â鶹Éç aims to reply to the initial complaint within ten working days.

The exercise was carried out in two phases by independent agencies. The main study was the second phase which was carried out earlier this year by GfK Mystery Shopping, in which 498 complaints were submitted. It found that:

• 56 per cent of the complaints made by email received a response within ten working days
• Complaints made by phone to the Â鶹Éç were generally handled well
• GfK's original report showed that 31 per cent of the complaints made by letter received a response within ten working days. The Trust and Executive cross-checked the dates letters arrived and were replied to on the Â鶹Éç's computer system; this indicated that a higher figure of 64 per cent of complaints were responded to within the ten working day timeframe. The difference may have been due to postal delays which were out of the Â鶹Éç's control
• Complaints sent directly to independent production companies or programme areas, rather than Â鶹Éç audience services, are not generally being dealt with effectively.

The main exercise was preceded by phase one - a pilot exercise carried out in 2009, where 50 complaints were submitted. The results suggested that the complaints process was not working as well as it should, though this was based on a small sample.

Â鶹Éç Trust Trustee, Alison Hastings, who led the review, said:

"It's essential that the Â鶹Éç handles complaints efficiently and well. The work published today shows that further progress is needed to ensure licence fee payers' complaints are being responded to in a consistent and timely manner.

"The Chairman last week set out measures aimed to make the complaints process as effective as possible, including the appointment of a Chief Complaints Editor by the Director-General. The Executive have also put together an action plan to address the issues identified in today's report, and will report back to the Trust on progress.

"We will repeat the mystery shopping exercise in the future to see whether all issues have been fully addressed."

The Trust is reassured that turnaround times have recently recovered.

Notes to editors

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1. Phase one was a pilot study, carried out in 2009 by IPSOS Mori; 50 complaints were submitted to Â鶹Éç programme-makers and independent production companies
2. Phase two was conducted in 2011 by GfK following the implementation of a new Â鶹Éç Audience Services contract in 2010. Of the 498 complaints submitted, 378 went to Â鶹Éç Audience services, to reflect the fact that they deal with the majority of the Â鶹Éç's complaints; 100 went to Â鶹Éç programme-makers; and 20 were sent to independent production companies
3. The Trust has also today published a commentary and the response from the Â鶹Éç Executive; both of which can be found here: 'Mystery shopping' report on Â鶹Éç Complaints Framework
4. The Chairman announced the appointment of a Chief Complaints Editor as part of the Fleming Lecture which he delivered to the RTS on 6 July; the transcript can be found here: "The Â鶹Éç – Old Values, New Technologies".