Complaints: how to raise one and what happens next

Introduction and our commitment

The purpose of this process is to give every client a fair, documented way to raise a grievance about any aspect of the service: a transaction, a fee, a technical matter, the conduct of a staff member or a decision affecting the account. The process applies equally whatever the size of the account or the amount in question, and using it never affects your standing as a client. Our obligation is to investigate impartially, respond in writing within the timelines below, and tell you honestly what we found, including when we got something wrong.

The main process, step by step

Step 1: You raise the matter

Send your complaint in writing to [email protected] with the word "complaint" in the subject line. A written record protects both sides: dates, facts and undertakings are traceable rather than remembered. You will receive an acknowledgement with a reference number and the name of the person handling the matter.

Step 2: Assessment and investigation

The handler gathers the account records, transaction logs and communications relevant to the complaint. Where the matter involves another team, such as payments or compliance, they are asked to respond through the handler so the investigation stays in one pair of hands. Complex matters are escalated to a senior reviewer rather than stretched out at the first level.

Step 3: Written outcome

You receive a written response explaining what was found, what we will do about it, and, where something went wrong on our side, what we will do to prevent a repeat. If the outcome is not in your favour, the response explains the reasoning and the evidence it rests on, not just the conclusion.

Step 4: Remediation

Where the outcome requires action, such as a correction, a refund of an incorrectly applied charge or an adjustment, the action is completed within the timeframe stated in the response, and you are told when it is done rather than left to discover it.

Step 5: Closing or escalating

If you accept the outcome, the matter closes with a written confirmation. If you do not, the response tells you how to ask for a senior review internally and, once internal options are exhausted, how to take the matter to external dispute resolution.

What to include, and what not to send

A complaint is resolved fastest when it contains the specifics: your name and the email address on the account, dates and times, amounts and transaction references where money is involved, the names of any staff you dealt with, and what outcome you are seeking. State the facts as they happened and separate them from the effect they had on you; both matter, but they are different things.

Do not include passwords, one-time codes, full payment card numbers or copies of identity documents in the body of a complaint email. If verification is needed for the remedy, the handler will arrange it through the secure channel in your account. Complaints containing credentials are treated as a security matter first, which delays the substance.

Timelines

Acknowledgement with a reference number is sent within one business day of receipt. A substantive response follows within five business days for routine matters. Where an investigation genuinely cannot conclude in that time, you receive an interim update before the deadline passes, stating what is outstanding and the revised date, which we treat as a commitment rather than an estimate to be revised again quietly. The overall limit for a final written response is fifteen business days from receipt except where external dependencies make that impossible, in which case the interim update explains the dependency.

These timelines apply alongside the consumer dispute framework relevant in Australia. Nothing in this internal process limits rights you may have under that framework, and time spent here is not intended to wear down deadlines that apply elsewhere; if in doubt about an external time limit, the external body's published material is the authority on it.

Escalation and external dispute resolution

If the internal process ends in an outcome you do not accept, the final response explains the escalation path. The first option is a senior review inside Worthamence, requested by reply, in which a reviewer senior to the original handler re-examines the record. Beyond that, clients in Australia may take eligible unresolved disputes to the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA), the external dispute resolution scheme of which the framework applicable to our services forms part. AFCA provides an independent review at no cost to you, and our final responses include the information AFCA expects you to have.

We engage with external dispute resolution as a part of normal operations, not as an adversarial last step: the same records, and the same honesty about what they show, are provided externally as internally.

Our commitments to you

First, impartiality: complaints are handled by people who did not cause the problem, and outcomes follow the evidence rather than the cost of the remedy. Second, transparency: you are told what was investigated, what was found and why, in writing, every time. Third, confidentiality: the fact of your complaint and its contents are shared only with the people who need them to resolve it, and never used against you in the management of your account. Fourth, timeliness: the deadlines above are commitments with interim updates, not aspirations. Fifth, remedy: where we are wrong, we fix the substance and say so plainly. Sixth, improvement: recurring causes are analysed and the underlying process changed, because a repeated apology is not a remedy.

Contact information

Complaints and questions about the process go to [email protected]. Written complaints can also be posted to our office at Level 11, 385 Collins Street, Melbourne VIC 3000, Australia. Both routes reach the same team and carry the same timelines; email is simply faster. If you are unsure whether your concern is "big enough" to complain about, write anyway: deciding that is our job, not yours.