Gardeners Custom House Complaints Procedure

Gardeners Custom House is committed to providing a reliable and professional gardening service. We recognise that, on occasion, things may not go as planned. When this happens, we welcome the opportunity to put matters right and to learn from any mistakes. This complaints procedure explains how you can raise a concern, what you can expect from us, and how we work to resolve issues fairly and efficiently.

Purpose of this Complaints Procedure

The purpose of this procedure is to give clients a clear and straightforward way to tell us when they are unhappy with any part of our gardening services. It also explains the steps we will take to investigate and respond to your complaint. We aim to deal with all complaints in a timely, consistent and transparent manner, whether they relate to regular garden maintenance, one-off projects, or specialist work.

What We Class as a Complaint

A complaint is any expression of dissatisfaction about our services, staff, contractors, communication or standards of work, where you would like a response or resolution. Examples can include concerns about the quality of gardening work carried out, the conduct or attitude of gardeners or supervisors, the timing or reliability of appointments, how your property or plants were treated, clarity of prices, estimates or invoices, and how your enquiry or previous concern was handled.

If you are unsure whether your concern counts as a complaint, please raise it with us anyway. We would rather hear from you and have the chance to address the matter than leave you dissatisfied.

How to Raise a Complaint

You can raise a complaint verbally or in writing. While we accept verbal complaints, we encourage written complaints where possible, as this helps us keep an accurate record and understand the details clearly.

When making a complaint, please include your full name, your address or the address where the gardening work took place, the date or dates when the issue occurred, a clear description of what went wrong and how it affected you, the names of any staff or gardeners involved, if known, and any steps you have already taken to resolve the matter informally. Providing photographs of the garden or work carried out can also help us understand the situation more quickly, but this is not essential.

Our Complaints Handling Stages

Stage 1: Informal Resolution

We encourage you to raise concerns as soon as possible, ideally with the gardener on site or with the person who arranged your service. Many issues can be resolved quickly through discussion, clarification, or a simple return visit to put things right. At this informal stage we will listen carefully to your concerns, clarify any misunderstandings, and agree any immediate actions we can take to resolve the issue. If you are satisfied with the outcome at this stage, the matter will be closed.

Stage 2: Formal Complaint

If you are not satisfied with the informal response, or if the matter is more serious, you can make a formal complaint. Once we receive your formal complaint, we will acknowledge it within a reasonable timeframe and log it in our complaints record. We will then appoint a person with appropriate responsibility, who was not directly involved in the issue wherever possible, to investigate the complaint. The investigation may include reviewing work schedules and job notes, examining any photographs or other evidence, speaking with the gardeners or supervisors involved, and, if needed, arranging a site visit to inspect the garden in person.

After the investigation, we will provide you with a written response explaining our findings, whether we uphold your complaint in full or in part, or do not uphold it, and the reasons for our decision. Where we find that things have gone wrong, we will explain what we propose to do to put matters right.

Stage 3: Further Review

If you remain dissatisfied after our formal response, you may request a further review. This review will be carried out, where possible, by a senior member of the team who has not previously been involved in the complaint. The reviewer will consider how the complaint was handled, whether our response was fair and reasonable in light of the evidence, and whether any further actions are appropriate. Following this review, we will send you a final response outlining our conclusions and any additional steps we will take.

Timescales

We aim to deal with all complaints as promptly as reasonably possible. While exact timescales can vary depending on the complexity of the issue and the need for site visits, our general approach is to acknowledge formal complaints within a short period, investigate and respond in a reasonable timeframe, and keep you informed if more time is needed. If any delay is unavoidable, we will let you know the reason and give an indication of when you can expect a full response.

Possible Outcomes and Remedies

Where a complaint is upheld, we will consider appropriate remedies. These may include arranging a return visit to correct or redo certain gardening tasks, offering practical solutions to restore the condition of your garden as far as reasonably possible, reviewing and improving our internal processes, staff training or supervision, and providing a goodwill gesture where appropriate. Our aim is always to reach an outcome that is fair, proportionate and reflective of the issues raised.

Your Responsibilities When Making a Complaint

We ask that you provide clear and accurate information, communicate with us in a respectful manner, and allow reasonable time for us to investigate and respond. This helps us understand your concerns and work with you towards a resolution. We reserve the right to draw a complaint to a close where it becomes unreasonable, persistent or abusive, but this will be considered only in exceptional circumstances.

How We Use Complaints to Improve Our Service

Complaints are an important source of feedback for Gardeners Custom House. We review complaints regularly to identify any patterns or recurring issues across our gardening work, communication or scheduling. Where necessary, we adjust our training, supervision and quality checks to prevent similar problems arising in the future. By following this procedure and learning from every complaint, we aim to maintain and continuously improve the standards of our gardening services.

This complaints procedure does not affect your statutory rights.