Complaints Procedure for Gardeners Leytonstone Clients

Gardeners Leytonstone is committed to providing reliable, professional gardening services across our local area. We recognise that, on occasion, things may not go as planned. When this happens, we want to know 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 at each stage.

Purpose of This Complaints Procedure

The purpose of this complaints procedure is to provide a clear, fair and timely way for clients to tell us when they are dissatisfied with any aspect of our gardening services. It applies to all services we offer, including regular garden maintenance, one-off tidy-ups, lawn care, hedge trimming, planting, and related work within our normal service area.

What We Class as a Complaint

A complaint is any expression of dissatisfaction about our services, our staff, or the way we have handled an enquiry or booking, where a response is expected. Examples include:

Work not carried out as agreed, such as missed areas of the garden or tasks not completed.

Concerns about the quality of gardening work, for example lawn, hedge, border, or planting results.

Issues with how our team have conducted themselves on site, including professionalism or courtesy.

Problems with scheduling, access, communication, or billing for services.

Damage to property, plants, lawns, or garden structures allegedly caused by our work.

This procedure does not cover requests for additional work or changes to your regular schedule unless you are unhappy with how such requests were handled.

How to Make a Complaint

You can raise a complaint in a way that is convenient for you. We accept complaints verbally or in writing. While we will always listen to verbal complaints, we recommend putting your concerns in writing wherever possible, as this helps us understand the details and investigate thoroughly.

When making a complaint, please provide the following information:

Your full name and the address where our gardening work was carried out.

The date or dates the issue occurred.

A clear description of what went wrong and how it has affected you or your garden.

Any photographs, notes, or other information that may help us understand the problem.

What you would like us to do to put things right, if you have a preference.

Our Complaints Handling Stages

We aim to resolve all complaints as quickly and fairly as possible. Our complaints handling process has three main stages.

Stage 1: Initial Response

Once we receive your complaint, we will acknowledge it within a reasonable timeframe. Where possible, we will try to resolve straightforward issues immediately or within a short period after acknowledging your concerns.

We may contact you to clarify details, ask for further information, or arrange a convenient time to inspect the garden if the complaint relates to the standard of work or possible damage.

Stage 2: Investigation and Outcome

If your complaint cannot be resolved informally at Stage 1, it will be passed to a manager or supervisor for a more detailed investigation. This may include:

Reviewing work notes, schedules, and any photographs taken by our team.

Speaking with the gardeners who attended your property.

Visiting your property to see the garden and any issues in person.

We will then reach a conclusion on what has happened and what we can reasonably do to put things right. We will explain our findings and the outcome to you, including any steps we will take such as rectifying work, providing advice, adjusting future visits, or other appropriate remedies.

Stage 3: Further Review

If you remain unhappy after our Stage 2 outcome, you can ask for a further review. In this case, a senior member of our team, who has not previously been involved wherever possible, will review the complaint, the investigation, and the outcome reached. They may contact you for more information or to discuss possible resolutions.

After this review, we will confirm our final position on your complaint and explain the reasons for our decision.

Timescales

We aim to handle complaints promptly and proportionately. While exact timescales may vary depending on the complexity of the issue and the need to arrange site visits, our general approach is:

Acknowledge your complaint within a reasonable period after receiving it.

Complete our initial investigation and aim to provide an outcome within a practical timeframe, taking into account weather conditions, access to the garden, and staff availability.

If more time is needed, we will let you know and keep you informed of progress.

Fairness and Confidentiality

All complaints are treated seriously and handled in a fair and impartial manner. We will not treat you differently or less favourably because you have raised a complaint. Your information will be handled in line with applicable data protection principles, and details of your complaint will only be shared with those who need to know in order to resolve the matter.

Putting Things Right

Where we find that we have made a mistake or fallen short of our standards, we will aim to put things right as practically and reasonably as possible. This may include:

Correcting or completing the gardening work.

Offering advice or adjustments to future maintenance visits.

Reviewing and improving our internal processes or staff training.

Our priority is to restore your confidence in our services and maintain your garden to the standard you expect.

Using Feedback to Improve Our Services

We view complaints and feedback as an important source of learning. By highlighting issues with work quality, communication, scheduling, or site conduct, our clients help us improve the way we plan jobs, supervise teams, and maintain gardens across our service area. We regularly review complaints to identify patterns and make improvements to the services we provide.

This complaints procedure is intended to make it easy for you to raise concerns and to reassure you that they will be addressed properly. Gardeners Leytonstone values long-term relationships with clients and aims to resolve problems constructively wherever possible.