Gardeners Berrylands Complaints Procedure

Gardeners Berrylands is committed to providing reliable and professional gardening services to all customers in our local area. We aim to deliver work that is safe, respectful, and of a consistently high standard. If something goes wrong, 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 at each stage.

Our Approach to Complaints

We view complaints as an important source of feedback. They help us understand when our service has fallen short and what we need to change. Every complaint will be treated seriously, handled sensitively, and dealt with as quickly as reasonably possible. We will always try to resolve issues informally in the first instance, but we also have a clear formal process if this is needed.

We will make sure that:

Complaints are acknowledged and recorded. You are treated with courtesy and respect. We listen carefully to your concerns and clarify anything that is unclear. We investigate the matter fairly and proportionately. We explain our findings and any actions we propose to take.

What This Procedure Covers

This complaints procedure applies to all gardening and related services provided by Gardeners Berrylands, including regular garden maintenance, one-off tidy ups, lawn care, hedge trimming, planting, and other outdoor work we undertake for customers in our service area.

You can use this procedure to complain about:

The quality of work carried out. Damage to property or plants during our visit. The behaviour or conduct of our gardeners or support staff. The way we have communicated with you. Missed or late appointments without reasonable notice.

This procedure does not cover matters that are being dealt with by insurers, legal representatives, or external regulators, although we will continue to cooperate and provide relevant information where appropriate.

How to Make a Complaint

You can make a complaint verbally or in writing. While we accept complaints made in any reasonable way, we recommend putting your concerns in writing so that both you and our team have a clear record of the issues.

When making a complaint, it is helpful if you can provide:

Your name and preferred method of contact. The address where the gardening work was carried out. The date or dates of the work or incident you are complaining about. A clear description of what went wrong and how it has affected you. Any photographs or notes that you think are relevant.

If you need assistance with setting out your complaint, please let us know and we will do our best to support you.

Informal Resolution

In many cases, complaints can be resolved quickly and informally. If you are unhappy with any aspect of our gardening work, please raise it as soon as possible with the gardener on site or with the person you usually deal with at Gardeners Berrylands.

We will listen to your concerns, discuss what has happened, and, where we agree that something has gone wrong, propose practical steps to resolve the issue. This may include returning to complete or correct work, adjusting future visits, or agreeing another form of resolution.

If you are not satisfied with the outcome of this informal approach, you may choose to follow our formal complaints procedure.

Formal Complaints Process

When a complaint becomes formal, we will follow the steps below.

Step 1: Acknowledgement
Once we receive your formal complaint, we will acknowledge it within a reasonable time, usually within five working days. We will confirm that we have received your complaint and explain the next steps.

Step 2: Investigation
Your complaint will be reviewed by a person with appropriate responsibility within Gardeners Berrylands. This may involve speaking to the gardeners who attended your property, reviewing job records, and, where necessary, visiting the garden again.

Step 3: Response
After we have completed our investigation, we will write to you with our findings. We will explain:

What we understand your complaint to be about. The steps we have taken to investigate the matter. Our decision and the reasons for it. Any action we will take to put things right or to prevent a similar issue from happening again.

We aim to provide a full response within 20 working days of acknowledging your formal complaint. If, for any reason, we need more time, we will let you know and explain why there is a delay.

If You Remain Dissatisfied

If you are not satisfied with our response, you can ask us to review the decision. In your request, please explain which parts of our response you disagree with and why. We will arrange for a further review by a senior member of our team, who was not directly involved in the original investigation wherever possible.

Following this review, we will provide you with a final response, setting out our position and any further steps we can reasonably offer.

Confidentiality and Data Protection

All complaints will be handled in line with relevant data protection requirements. Information about your complaint will only be shared with those who need to know in order to investigate and respond. We will store complaint records securely and retain them only for as long as is necessary for our legitimate business purposes and any legal or regulatory requirements.

Using Complaints to Improve Our Service

Gardeners Berrylands is committed to learning from every complaint. We regularly review the complaints we receive to identify patterns, training needs, or changes that could improve our gardening services for customers in our area. Where appropriate, we will update our working practices, staff training, or customer communication based on feedback we receive.

By following this complaints procedure, we aim to ensure that all customers are treated fairly and that any issues are addressed promptly, transparently, and constructively.