Complaints procedure De Toekomst

The complaints procedure

The complaints procedure of De Toekomst consists of the following steps:

• A complaint can be submitted by email, phone, post, or online.
• The person who receives the complaint informs the relevant account manager/executive.
• After receiving the complaint, it is registered in our Management Information System (MIS) by the account manager. This must be done within 1 day of receiving the complaint.
• A receipt confirmation of the complaint is sent to the complainant via email. This confirms that a complaint has been received, the nature of the complaint, the date of the complaint, and an outline of the follow-up procedure.
• The complaint will undergo an initial investigation. The complaint is reviewed for severity, impact on the customer, and the need for immediate intervention. This helps determine the priority of the complaint.

Investigation of the complaint: the investigation is recorded in the MIS. Questions that need to be addressed include:

• What is the direct cause of the complaint? Did the complaint arise from the supplier, transport, production process, or packaging?
• Is the cause within or outside the organization? If the cause lies with a supplier, they must be informed and involved in finding a solution.
• Is the complaint limited to this particular product?

Response to the investigation: Based on the investigation’s outcome, it is assessed whether, and if so, what actions are needed. The action to be taken is determined by the account manager. We distinguish the following actions:

• A corrective action within the organization to prevent similar issues in the future
• Repair of the product if possible.
• Possible replacement of the product.
• If necessary, issuing a credit note.

Communication with the customer about the outcome of the investigation: we always aim to resolve complaints in good consultation with the customer.

The final decision on the action to be taken lies with the executive board. This decision will be communicated to the customer via phone or email. If communicated by phone, an email confirmation will also be sent.

If the customer is still dissatisfied with the action taken, two additional options are available:

1. Objection possibility: The complaint is discussed in a full executive meeting, where the customer’s perspective and proposed solution are explicitly addressed.
2. External appeal possibility: The dispute can be raised with a mediator or taken to court.

• Closure of the complaint in the MIS

Complaint registration

The complaint is registered in the MIS under the relevant order. The registration includes which order the complaint is related to, the contact person who filed the complaint, and a description of the complaint. Once the complaint is resolved, the MIS will describe how the solution was reached.

Since all complaints are stored in the MIS, we ensure that any future orders will bring up previous complaints, allowing us to pay extra attention to them with new orders to prevent them from recurring.

Preventing complaints

In addition to handling complaints properly, De Toekomst believes it is important to prevent as many complaints as possible. We do this in the following ways:

• Recording agreements with customers and suppliers as much as possible in writing.
• Always sending PDF proofs to the customer. Only after written approval will the order be printed.
• Plot proofs are still made in-house and, in many cases (especially for critical work), signed off by the customer in writing. Additionally, the proof is compared to the printed material at the press. Both the printer and the order manager review and sign off on the proofs.
• Alongside the aforementioned, we work according to specific quality standards (including order processes, color models, etc.). This is further detailed in our quality management manual.
• Annual auditing by an external party regarding Health and Safety (Arbo), Risk Inventory & Evaluation (RIE), Environment, and Information Security.
• Actively working towards further optimizing our business processes through CSR, ISO14001, and ISO27001 certifications.