Complaints Procedure for Gardeners New Eltham

This Complaints Procedure explains how Gardeners New Eltham manages, investigates, and resolves concerns raised by clients about our gardening and maintenance services. Our aim is to handle every complaint fairly, promptly, and professionally, and to use feedback to improve our work across the local area.

Our Commitment to You

We are committed to providing reliable, high quality gardening services, including regular maintenance, one-off tidy ups, and specialist garden care. If our service does not meet your expectations, we want to know. All complaints are taken seriously, treated with respect, and handled in confidence as far as possible.

What This Procedure Covers

This procedure applies to complaints about:

• The quality of gardening or maintenance work carried out
• The conduct, attitude, or behaviour of our gardeners or staff
• Missed appointments or repeated lateness
• Health and safety concerns related to our work on your property
• Administration issues such as scheduling, invoicing, or communication

This procedure does not cover matters that are already the subject of legal proceedings or insurance claims, or complaints about services provided by other businesses.

Raising a Complaint

You are encouraged to raise any concerns as soon as possible after the issue arises. This allows us to investigate while details are still clear and, where appropriate, to put things right quickly.

You can raise a complaint verbally in person during a visit or by contacting our office, or you can raise it in writing. When making a complaint, please provide:

• Your full name and the service address
• The date or dates when the issue occurred
• A clear description of what went wrong
• Any relevant details, such as photos, if available
• How you would ideally like the matter to be resolved

Informal Resolution

Many concerns can be resolved quickly and informally. If you raise an issue with a gardener on site or by speaking to our office, we will aim to address it immediately where possible. This might involve returning to complete work, correcting a misunderstanding about the agreed service, or clarifying charges.

If you are not satisfied with the informal response, or if the matter is more serious or complex, you can ask for it to be treated as a formal complaint under this procedure.

Formal Complaints Process

Once we receive your formal complaint, we will:

1. Acknowledge receipt of your complaint within a reasonable period, normally within five working days.
2. Record the details of your complaint in our internal system for monitoring and review.
3. Assign a responsible person to review and investigate the matter. Where possible, this will be someone not directly involved in the original issue.

Investigation and Assessment

The scope of the investigation will depend on the nature of your complaint. It may include:

• Reviewing job sheets, schedules, and internal notes
• Checking any photographs or other evidence you provide
• Speaking with the gardener or staff members involved
• Visiting the property, where appropriate and by agreement, to inspect the garden and any work carried out

We will consider your account carefully and compare it with the information gathered. Our aim is to reach a fair and balanced view of what happened and what, if any, remedial action is required.

Timeframes for Response

We aim to provide a full response to formal complaints within twenty working days of acknowledgment. If, for any reason, the investigation will take longer, we will explain the reason and let you know when you can expect a full reply.

Outcome and Remedies

When the investigation is complete, we will explain the outcome to you clearly. Our response will normally include:

• A summary of the complaint and the key issues considered
• The findings of our investigation
• Any conclusions reached and the reasons for them
• Any steps we will take to put things right or prevent similar issues

Depending on the circumstances, possible remedies may include:

• Returning to the property to redo or complete work
• Offering an alternative service or practical solution
• Adjusting an invoice, where appropriate
• Providing an explanation or apology, where we have fallen short of our standards

If You Are Still Unhappy

If you remain dissatisfied after receiving our full response, you may request that the complaint is reviewed again by a more senior member of our team, where available. They will look at how the complaint was handled and whether the outcome was reasonable in light of the evidence.

Recording and Using Complaints

All complaints, whether upheld or not, are logged and monitored. We review complaint records regularly to identify patterns, training needs, and opportunities to improve our gardening services, customer care, and communication processes across our service area.

Confidentiality and Data Protection

Information you provide in connection with a complaint will be handled securely and used only for the purposes of investigating and resolving the issue, and for monitoring service quality. We will keep records for as long as is reasonably necessary for these purposes and in line with our legal obligations.

Review of This Procedure

This Complaints Procedure is reviewed periodically to ensure it remains clear, fair and effective for our clients and staff. Updated versions will apply to all new complaints from the date of publication.