Complaints Procedure

Gardeners Nunhead Complaints Procedure

Gardeners Nunhead is committed to providing reliable, professional gardening services. We recognise that, on occasion, things may not go as planned. This complaints procedure sets out how you can raise a concern about our services, how we will respond, and what you can expect from us throughout the process.

1. Purpose of this Complaints Procedure

The purpose of this procedure is to provide a clear, accessible route for customers to tell us when they are dissatisfied. It also helps us to review our work, improve our service, and prevent similar issues from arising in the future.

This procedure applies to all domestic and commercial customers who have used Gardeners Nunhead for gardening, garden maintenance, or related services in our operating area.

2. What Counts as a Complaint

A complaint is any expression of dissatisfaction about our gardening services, staff conduct, communication, pricing clarity, or how we have handled a previous concern, where you are seeking a response or resolution.

Examples include, but are not limited to:

• Work not completed to the standard or specification agreed
• Missed or significantly delayed appointments without reasonable explanation
• Concerns about the behaviour, attitude, or professionalism of our gardeners
• Disputes about invoices or clarity of quotations
• Failure to follow up on agreed actions

General questions or requests for minor adjustments, where you are not unhappy with the overall service, will usually be treated as routine customer service enquiries rather than formal complaints.

3. How to Make a Complaint

You can make a complaint in writing or verbally. While we will accept complaints in any format, we encourage you to set out the details in writing wherever possible, as this helps us ensure accuracy and track the matter properly.

When making a complaint, please provide:

• Your full name
• The address where the gardening work took place
• The date or approximate dates of the service
• A clear description of what went wrong and why you are dissatisfied
• Any supporting information, such as photographs or written quotations
• What you would like us to do to put things right

If you need assistance in explaining your complaint, we will do our best to help you set it out clearly.

4. Initial Resolution with Your Gardener or Coordinator

Where possible, we encourage you to raise any issues as soon as you become aware of them, ideally on the day of the visit or shortly afterwards. In many cases, problems can be resolved quickly and informally by the gardener who attended or by the person who coordinated the booking.

If the issue is not resolved to your satisfaction at this stage, or if you prefer not to discuss it informally, you may ask for your complaint to be treated as a formal complaint under this procedure.

5. Formal Complaint Acknowledgement

Once we receive a formal complaint, we will acknowledge it within five working days. The acknowledgement will confirm that we have received your complaint and will outline the next steps in the process, including the name or role of the person assigned to handle your case.

If we require any additional information to understand the situation clearly, we may contact you at this stage to request further details.

6. Investigation Process

Your complaint will be investigated by an appropriate member of our team who was not directly responsible for the work in question where possible. The investigation may include:

• Reviewing job records, quotations, and any written agreements
• Speaking with the gardeners or coordinators involved
• Considering photographs or other evidence you provide
• If appropriate, arranging a site visit to inspect the garden

We aim to conduct all investigations fairly, objectively, and without unnecessary delay.

7. Response Times and Outcomes

We aim to provide a written response to your complaint within 15 working days of acknowledging it. If, for any reason, we cannot meet this timescale, we will let you know and provide an updated timeframe.

Our response will set out:

• A summary of your complaint
• The steps we have taken to investigate it
• Our findings and conclusion
• Any actions we propose to resolve the matter

Possible outcomes may include:

• An explanation or clarification
• An apology
• Rectification work or a return visit
• A partial or full refund, where appropriate
• Steps we will take to prevent similar issues in future

8. If You Are Not Satisfied with the Outcome

If you remain dissatisfied after receiving our formal response, you may ask for a further review. This review will, where possible, be undertaken by a more senior member of the team or by someone not previously involved in handling your complaint.

We will confirm in writing that a review is taking place and aim to provide a final response within 15 working days of your review request. The final response will explain our position and any further steps we are able to take.

9. Your Responsibilities as a Customer

To help us deal with complaints efficiently, we ask that you:

• Raise concerns as soon as reasonably possible after the issue arises
• Provide accurate and complete information about the problem
• Allow us reasonable access to the garden, if a site visit is required
• Communicate with our staff in a respectful manner
• Consider proposed resolutions fairly and in good faith

10. Learning from Complaints

Gardeners Nunhead uses feedback and complaints as an opportunity to improve. We regularly review the nature of complaints received to identify recurring themes and implement training, changes to procedures, or service improvements where necessary.

11. Confidentiality and Data Protection

All complaints are treated in confidence. Information you provide will only be shared with staff who need it to investigate and resolve your complaint. We will handle your personal information in line with data protection requirements and retain complaint records for an appropriate period to help us review and improve our services.

12. Changes to this Complaints Procedure

We may update this complaints procedure from time to time to reflect changes in our services, internal processes, or legal requirements. The version available from Gardeners Nunhead at the time you raise your complaint will be the one applied to your case.

We appreciate the opportunity to address any concerns and are committed to resolving complaints in a fair, timely, and constructive manner.