Gardeners Herne Hill Complaints Procedure

Gardeners Herne Hill is committed to delivering reliable, professional gardening services and to treating every customer fairly. We recognise that, on occasion, things may not go as planned. When this happens, we want to know about it so we can put matters right and improve our service. This Complaints Procedure explains how you can raise a concern, how we will respond, and what you can expect from us throughout the process.

Our Commitment to Resolving Complaints

We aim to resolve all complaints promptly, fairly and consistently. Every complaint is taken seriously and handled confidentially. Our key commitments are:

We listen carefully to your concerns and treat you with respect at all times. We aim to resolve most issues informally at an early stage. Where a formal complaint is made, we follow a clear and structured process. We seek to provide an explanation, a remedy where appropriate, and steps to prevent similar issues in future. We learn from feedback and use it to improve our gardening services and customer care.

What Is a Complaint

A complaint is any expression of dissatisfaction about our gardening services, our staff, our communication, or the way we have handled an issue, where you would like a response or resolution. This may include concerns about service quality, missed visits or scheduling issues, conduct of gardeners or staff, communication before, during or after work, or how we have handled a previous concern or complaint.

How to Raise a Complaint

You can raise a complaint with Gardeners Herne Hill in writing or verbally. When making a complaint, please provide as much detail as possible so we can investigate thoroughly. Helpful information includes your full name, property address where the work was carried out, the dates and times the issue occurred, a clear description of what went wrong and how it has affected you, the names of any staff or gardeners involved (if known), and any steps you have already taken to resolve the matter.

We encourage you to raise your concern as soon as possible after the issue arises, as this helps us to investigate more effectively.

Stage One: Informal Resolution

Many issues can be resolved quickly and informally. In the first instance, please raise your concern with the member of our team you have been dealing with, such as the gardener on site or the office contact who arranged your visit. We will listen to your concerns, discuss what happened, and try to offer an immediate explanation or solution. Where appropriate, this might include returning to complete work, making adjustments to the service, or agreeing changes to any ongoing maintenance schedule.

If you are not satisfied with the outcome at this stage, or feel unable to raise the matter informally, you may use our formal complaints process.

Stage Two: Formal Complaint

To make a formal complaint, please set out your concerns clearly and state that you are making a complaint under this Complaints Procedure. Once we receive your formal complaint, we will acknowledge it within a reasonable timeframe and confirm that an investigation is underway. We may contact you for further details or clarification if needed.

Your complaint will be reviewed by a senior member of Gardeners Herne Hill who has not been directly involved in the matters you are complaining about, wherever possible. They will consider all relevant information, including any notes from site visits, job records, schedules, and staff accounts.

Investigation and Response Timescales

We aim to complete our investigation and provide a full response within a reasonable period. The exact timescale may vary depending on the complexity of the issue, the availability of staff for interviews, and whether a site re-visit is required to review the gardening work. If we cannot provide a full response within our usual timeframe, we will let you know, explain the reason for the delay, and indicate when you can expect a final response.

Our Formal Response

When our investigation is complete, we will send you a clear and detailed response. This will normally include a summary of your complaint and the issues you raised, an outline of the steps we have taken to investigate, our findings based on the available evidence, any apology where appropriate, and any remedy or corrective action we are able to offer.

Depending on the circumstances, remedies may include putting work right, revisiting your garden, partial or full refunds where justified, changes to how we schedule or deliver services, staff training or supervision measures, and updates to our procedures to prevent similar problems.

If You Remain Dissatisfied

If you are not satisfied with our formal response, you may contact us again to explain why you remain unhappy and what outcome you are seeking. We will review your comments and consider whether any further investigation or action is appropriate. While we cannot guarantee the outcome you request, we will carefully consider your position and respond with a final decision.

Recording and Using Complaint Information

Gardeners Herne Hill keeps a record of complaints in order to monitor how effectively we resolve issues, identify patterns or recurring problems, and improve the quality of our gardening services. Complaint records are treated confidentially and are only shared with staff who need the information to investigate or respond. Personal data is handled in line with our privacy practices and applicable data protection requirements.

Unreasonable or Abusive Behaviour

We understand that making a complaint can be stressful, and we aim to be patient and helpful at all times. In return, we expect our staff to be treated with respect. Where behaviour becomes abusive, threatening, or persistently unreasonable, we may set limits on communication or, in serious cases, bring the correspondence to a close. Such decisions are taken carefully and only after warnings have been given.

Review of This Complaints Procedure

We review this Complaints Procedure periodically to ensure it remains clear, fair and effective. Changes may be made to reflect improvements in our internal processes, feedback from customers, or updates to relevant regulations. The current version of this procedure applies to all complaints about our gardening services unless stated otherwise.