As we've just gained a new officer, I'd like to give a quick refresher to guild members on how to deal with a complaint.
A "complaint" could be a specific grievance about another guild member - perhaps you've noticed them trolling or misrepresenting us in trade chat; perhaps you feel they have "scammed" you (said they would do something for you and then failed to follow through) or perhaps you feel you're getting unwanted attention.
A "complaint" could be performance related - perhaps you feel someone isn't pulling their weight in a raid, or never seem to be prepared.
A "complaint" could also be related to how something is run - either a specific event, events in general or even the guild. Perhaps you're not happy with a specific guild rule, or the way it is worded or interpreted; perhaps you feel that an event or events are not being run the way you like.
For all these and more, we do have rules in place, however, I would hope that, in the majority of instances, common sense and decency would prevail. We are an adult guild .. we are all grown ups. A lot of us have responsibilities, have jobs, have families to look after. I would hope that, as adults, most problems could be dealt with quietly and without escalation.
For something that you feel cannot be dealt with by yourself - the officers and myself are the route to be taken.
If the complaint is about a specific event, screenshots and evidence are useful. Specifics and timelines, specific character names and exact information are also needed.
If you feel you are unable to resolve a problem yourself, myself or one of the officers are willing to step in as mediator if it is a problem with another guild member or a specific person (or people) outside of the guild.
If you have a problem with the way an event is being run, please speak to the event organiser/event leader. Please do not start complaining to other raid members or in raid chat.
If you have a direct problem with someone else who is taking part in an event or raid with you, speak initially to the person involved - if that doesn't solve the problem satisfactorily, speak to the event organiser/leader.
If you have a general problem with others in an event or raid, please speak to the event organiser/leader. Please do not start complaining to other raid members or in raid chat. If it is to do with performance during a raid - please do note that raid organisers will have their own addons available to give them data, they will be watching the performance of other raid members and they will more than likely be aware of any problems. Please do not post output from addons such as Recount/Skada in raid or guild chat. If someone does not have these addons and wishes to see that information, they can view the Logs posted after the event or ask the raid organiser/leader to post the output only to themselves via whisper.
If you have a problem with the guild rules, raid rules, etc, please let us know in a calm and well thought-out manner, with an alternative option - either by contacting myself or an officer, or posting on the forums.
Please do note that guild and raid rules have been formed over time, and have served us well for many years. Everyone is asked to read and AGREE to them prior to applying to the guild. Anyone who joins the guild without going through the application process are asked to read the rules and everyone in the guild is assumed to have read and understood the rules. The rules are self-explanatory and generally common sense - if you feel that you don't understand or don't agree to a specific rule, please let us know BEFORE it becomes relevant.
Please be aware that, despite rumours to the contrary, none of the officers or myself are actually mind readers. If there is a legitimate problem that needs to be sorted, we need to be told. If we can, we will sort it. If we cannot - we will tell you why not. Problems will not go away by complaining to other guild members who have no ability to actually deal with them - that will only make them worse.
If you have a complaint that you feel has been through the full complaint process, but has not been dealt with satisfactorily, please speak to me directly. If it can be dealt with, it will be. If it cannot be, then it will be up to you to decide whether or not you can remain in the guild. If you cannot make that decision yourself, I will make the decision for you.
Finally - please do note that, despite the above, we very rarely have any problems. The majority of people who join the guild fit in very well with us, find the rules "obvious and common sense" and never have any cause for complaint.
Those who do have a problem, quite often it is a legitimate one - perhaps we've missed a change in the guild rules (for example it was recently pointed out that, although we changed to Teamspeak some time ago, some of the rules still referred to Ventrilo!); perhaps some were unable to attend specific raid nights (so we switched progression from Friday to Wednesday) - if you're not sure, it doesn't hurt to ask. There is no such thing as a silly question - only a silly answer. And we'll do our best to avoid too many of those!
