CUSTOMER COMPLAINT POLICY

The mission of Island Transit is to provide safe, accessible, convenient, and friendly public transportation services that enhance our Island quality of life. The Island Transit Customer Complaint Policy has been established to ensure that the public has an easy and accessible way to provide feedback including complaints, comments, suggestions, or concerns, to the agency.

ACCESSIBILITY

Island Transit will ensure that people providing feedback will receive an acknowledgment of their comments, as well as a report on the outcome of any investigations or changes that may result. The agency provides a variety of ways to receive public feedback, as listed below:

Mail:       Island Transit, ATTN: Operations Manager, 19758 State Route 20, Coupeville, WA 98239.

                Pre-addressed comment cards in English and Spanish are available on all buses.

Phone:    Whidbey Island (360) 678-7771

                Camano Island (360) 387-7433

                TTY Relay 711

E-mail:     CONTACT US HERE

Fax:          (360) 544-3710

Other:    LanguageLine Solutions is utilized for those who require written or verbal translation services.

All Island Transit staff that have contact with the public are provided training on the complaint process and shall be able to initially record a complaint they may receive.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

Anyone who submits a complaint, comment, or service suggestion to Island Transit and provides a phone number, mailing address, or email address, shall receive an initial acknowledgment of the complaint/comment within three (3) business days of receipt.

INVESTIGATION AND FOLLOW-UP

Complaints or concerns shall be assigned to an appropriate Island Transit staff member for investigation and follow-up. Comments and/or suggestions about Island Transit services will be assigned to staff responsible for service development or another appropriate department for investigation and follow-up.

TRACKING

Island Transit shall maintain a tracking system for all complaints which provides a unique identification of each complaint and allows ready access to information on the status of the complaint. The process, which consists of data entry, assignment, tracking, follow-up, response, and reporting, shall be managed by designated Operations department staff.

RESPONSES

Island Transit shall promptly provide a response to the customer making a complaint within fifteen (15) business days of receipt of the complaint. Should the period of time needed for response exceed fifteen days, the person making the complaint shall be advised of the status, in addition to receiving a final response. Responses shall be in the format requested, i.e., written, verbal, e-mail, and/or alternative or accessible format.

REPORTING

A summary of the status of all complaints shall be provided to the Board and Island Transit staff on a periodic basis for use in reviewing, planning, and evaluating service.

PROTECTION FROM RETRIBUTION

Island Transit shall ensure that the quality of service delivered to persons submitting complaints will not, in any way, be negatively impacted by that submission. If a person feels like they are being treated unfairly in response to the feedback they provided, they should contact the Island Transit Executive Director. If an employee is found to be guilty of such behavior, appropriate disciplinary action will be taken.

EDUCATION AND OUTREACH

Island Transit shall provide information about the complaint process to customers, employees, agencies that serve persons with special needs, and the general public in a variety of printed and electronic formats. These include, but are not limited to:

• Island Transit website / email link
• Schedules and Guides
• Letters to users of Paratransit services upon initial registration and periodically thereafter
• Comment Cards on all vehicles and at selected public locations where bus schedules are distributed
• Community outreach presentations

All educational and outreach materials shall include phone numbers, the mailing address, the website address, and email address. Accessible formats are available upon request.

APPEALS PROCESS 

Any person who is dissatisfied with the response they receive from Island Transit is welcome to appeal the decision. A review team consisting of the Executive Director or designee, a complainant representative, and one other staff member will review customer appeals.