Complaints Procedure

1. Purpose

1.1 This procedure explains how to make a complaint about Stella Apps or the ProvenBatch service, what happens after you do, and how long each stage should take. It is published in line with the complaint-handling duties for data-protection complaints introduced by the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 (“DUAA”), which took practical effect on 19 June 2026 — and it deliberately goes wider than that duty requires: it applies to complaints of any kind, not only complaints about personal data.

1.2 This procedure is separate from, but works alongside, ordinary customer support. If you have a question, a bug report, or a feature request, contact support@provenbatch.co.uk as usual and we will help — that is not automatically a “complaint” for the purposes of this procedure. This procedure is for when something has gone wrong and you want it formally looked into and resolved.

2. What counts as a complaint

We treat something as a complaint under this procedure if you tell us, in substance, that you are unhappy with: the Service itself; a decision we have made about your Account, billing, or a Label; how we have handled your personal data; or the conduct of Stella Apps or anyone acting for it. You do not need to use the word “complaint” or follow any particular format — if it reads as a complaint, we treat it as one.

3. Who can complain

Anyone can use this procedure: a current subscriber, a former subscriber, someone on a free trial, or a member of the public raising a concern about the Service (for example, a data protection concern). You do not need to be a paying customer.

4. How to complain

4.1 Email support@provenbatch.co.uk with as much detail as you can — what happened, when, your Account email if you have one, and what outcome you are looking for.

4.2 If you would prefer to write to us, our trading address is:

4th Floor, Silverstream House, 45 Fitzroy Street, London W1T 6EB

4.3 There is no charge for making a complaint, and doing so will not affect your Account or your access to the Service.

5. What happens next, and our timescales

5.1 Acknowledgement. We will acknowledge every complaint within 2 working days of receiving it, regardless of your Plan. This is a floor, not a target — if you are on a Standard or Pro Plan, our published support response commitments (below) may mean you hear from us sooner in practice.

5.2 Investigation and response. We aim to give you a full response — either resolving your complaint or explaining what we are doing about it and why — within 10 working days of acknowledging it. Most complaints about a small business like ours should not take longer than that.

5.3 If it takes longer. Some complaints, particularly ones involving a third-party sub-processor or a data protection investigation, genuinely take longer to resolve properly. If we cannot give you a full response within 10 working days, we will tell you why, and give you an update at least every 10 working days after that until it is resolved.

5.4 How this relates to our published support response times. Separately from complaint handling, we publish support response-time commitments by Plan for ordinary support queries: 2 working days on Starter, 1 working day on Standard, and priority handling on Pro. Those commitments apply to day-to-day support; the timescales in this clause 5 are the floor that applies to every complaint, from every complainant, regardless of Plan.

6. What we will do

6.1 We will look into your complaint properly — including, where relevant, checking what actually happened in the Service (for example, the audit trail behind a Label), rather than only reading what you have told us.

6.2 We will explain our reasoning in plain English, tell you what (if anything) we are going to do about it, and, where we got something wrong, say so and fix it.

6.3 Where your complaint concerns your personal data, we will handle it in line with our Privacy Policy, including your right to complain directly to the ICO at any time — you do not have to wait for us first.

7. If you are not satisfied with our response

7.1 Escalate to the owner. If you are not happy with how your complaint has been handled, reply and ask for it to be escalated. As a small, sole-trader business, escalation goes directly to Dave Biley, the owner of Stella Apps, who will review the complaint and our handling of it personally.

7.2 Data protection complaints. If your complaint is about how we have handled your personal data and you remain unhappy after we have responded, you can complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) at any time:

• Website: ico.org.uk
• Telephone: 0303 123 1113
• Post: Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF

7.3 Consumer complaints. If you are contracting with us as a consumer and remain unhappy after our final response, you can contact the Citizens Advice consumer service (0808 223 1133, or via citizensadvice.org.uk) for free, impartial advice on your options.

7.4 Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR). We are not currently a member of an approved ADR scheme, and are not required to be for our sector. We will always tell you plainly, in our final response to a complaint, that this is the case, so you know your options do not include an ADR scheme run through us.

8. Records

We keep a record of complaints received, our responses, and the time each stage took, so that we can review whether this procedure is actually working and report accurately if ever asked to by a regulator. Complaint records are handled in line with our Privacy Policy.

9. Reviewing this procedure

We will review this procedure at least once a year, and sooner if our complaint volumes, our team size, or the law changes materially. Changes are published here in the same way as changes to our other policies (see clause 19 of the Terms of Service).

10. Contact

Stella Apps, trading as ProvenBatch support@provenbatch.co.uk 4th Floor, Silverstream House, 45 Fitzroy Street, London W1T 6EB