Complaints and appeals
A complaint is a formal written communication of dissatisfaction relating to the activities of Travelife staff, contractors, auditors or Travelife Certified members. These could relate to service levels, compliance with Travelife standards, or any other aspect of Travelife operations.
An appeal is a formal, written request by a Member that requests reconsideration of a certification or compliance decision made by Travelife.
Whereas appeals will only come from Members undertaking the Travelife Certification process, complaints could come from Members, stakeholders, auditors or members of the public.
This pages outlines Travelife’s policy and procedures for both appeals and complaints.
Our complaints policy
Travelife are committed to providing high levels of service and professionalism, whether from our staff members, our Approved Auditors or our contractors. We are also committed to the integrity of our accommodation sustainability certification programme. We take complaints about any aspect of our business seriously and are committed to following our Complaints Procedure that outlines how to complain and how we will respond.
We recommend that you gather any relevant evidence (documents, videos etc.) and send this to Travelife with details of your complaint. You can make your complaint by email, letter or telephone using the following details: –
By post: Commercial Director, Travelife Ltd, 30 Park Street, London SE1 9EQ, United Kingdom
By email: info@travelife.org By telephone: +44 (0)203 693 0160
Once you have made the complaint, we will send you written acknowledgement that we have received it, within three working days, enclosing a copy of this procedure and the details of the Travelife department who will be dealing with the complaint
We will review the complaint to confirm that the complaint is relevant to the Travelife certification scheme and our general business operations, or advise if the complaint is outside this scope, in which case the complaint will be closed.
If the complaint falls within the scope of our certification scheme and/or general business operations, we will pass it to the relevant Travelife department who will gather the evidence and information needed to make a full investigation of your complaint and an objective assessment.
We will investigate the complaint in a timely manner and will contact you by telephone to discuss your complaint and the findings of the investigation, within 14 days of our acknowledgement letter.
We will contact you by email or letter within three days of the telephone call, to confirm the details of our discussion and the actions that may have been discussed with you.
If you do not want to discuss your complaint by telephone or it is not possible, your Travelife contact will send you a detailed written reply to your complaint, including their suggestions for resolving the matter. You will receive this correspondence either by email or by letter within 30 days of Travelife sending you the acknowledgement message.
At this stage, if you are still not satisfied you should reply and request that a senior manager review the complaint. The Commercial Director will then review the complaint, unless they have already been involved, in which case the Managing Director will review the complaint.
The Commercial Director or Managing Director will write to you within 14 days of receiving your request for a review, confirming our final position on your complaint and explaining our reasons.
Travelife will review all feedback made as an opportunity to review and improve our processes, including contacting any Member, auditor or contractor with feedback.
All complaints received will be dealt with confidentially and in accordance with the requirements of the UK Data and privacy laws, and the Travelife General Privacy Notice.
Our appeals policy
Travelife are committed to operating our certification program to the highest levels of skill, professionalism and impartiality, and in line with all external laws, regulations and policies that we follow. All subscribed Travelife for Accommodation Members have the right to appeal any decision made regarding the outcome of their certification audit or evaluation of their post-audit improvement evidence. We are committed to fully investigating these appeals and responding to these in a timely manner, and as described within Appeals Procedure.
Appeals will only be made and accepted after an audit has been completed, following communication of the audit result and during the initial period granted for the submission of improvements, which is within 31 days of the communication.
Travelife reserves the right to refuse any appeal that is not submitted within this timescale.
All appeals submitted under our Appeals Procedure should be sent as follows (marking any letter or email subject line with ‘Appeal’):
By post: Commercial Director, Travelife Ltd, 30 Park Street, London SE1 9EQ, United Kingdom
By email: info@travelife.org By telephone: +44 (0)203 693 0160
All communications with the appealing Member will be in writing and delivered to them at the email address associated with the Commercial Director. If another party is appealing on behalf of a Travelife Member, communications may be sent to a different email address provided it has been confirmed in writing by the Travelife Member.
A meeting of the Appeals Panel will be held every quarter either in person or via teleconference as soon as it can be arranged and at the convenience of all parties.
The appealing Member will be given a minimum of seven working days’ notice of the time and date of the appeal and will be advised of the names of the Chairperson and Members of the Appeals Panel.
The appealing Member may object to one or more of the Appeals Panel members, but must give reasons in writing to the Commercial Director. The Commercial Director reserves the right to refuse or make changes to the Appeals Panel.
The appealing Member shall provide full details of the objection and all supporting evidence in writing (documents, testimonies, photographs) to the Appeals Panel at least four full working days prior to the meeting of the Appeals Panel.
The Commercial Director or Managing Director will write to you within 14 days of receiving your request for a review, confirming our final position on your complaint and explaining our reasons.
The Chairperson of the Panel notifies Travelife and the appealing Member by email of the decision reached by the Appeals Panel within seven working days from the date of the Appeals Panel decision.
In the event of the Panel reaching a decision to revise the original decision made by Travelife, redress is limited to the declaration by Travelife of the revised decision in the same manner as the original decision was declared. There shall be no liability for loss or damage upon the original decision.
Travelife will consider the findings of the Panel and take any appropriate corrective and preventive action as required to ensure consistency and integrity of the standard.
Records of any Appeal will be retained by Travelife for a minimum of three years. The details are captured on the Appeals Record and Action Tracker that contains a summary of each appeal received, how it is reviewed by the Appeals Panel, and actions taken to resolve them.
All complaints received will be dealt with confidentially and in accordance with the requirements of all EU and UK data and privacy laws, and the Travelife General Privacy Notice.