Complaints Procedure for Gardeners Shoreditch Clients

Gardeners Shoreditch is committed to delivering reliable, professional gardening services and a positive customer experience. When something does not meet your expectations, we want to know about it so we can put things right and improve our service. This complaints procedure explains how to raise a concern, how we will respond, and what you can expect from us at each stage.

Our Approach to Handling Complaints

We treat all complaints seriously and handle them in a fair, consistent and timely manner. Our aims are to:

Listen carefully to your concerns about our gardening work or customer service.

Investigate what has happened and why.

Offer a clear response, including any appropriate remedy.

Use feedback to improve our garden maintenance and customer care processes.

What Counts as a Complaint

A complaint is any expression of dissatisfaction about the services you receive from Gardeners Shoreditch. This may include, but is not limited to:

Concerns about the quality or standard of gardening, landscaping or maintenance work.

Issues with how appointments, visits or schedules have been managed.

Concerns about the conduct, behaviour or attitude of a team member.

Disputes about invoices, charges or how your account has been handled.

Any situation where you believe we have not met our agreed service standards.

How to Make a Complaint

You can raise a complaint in writing or verbally. When you contact us, please provide as much detail as possible so we can understand the issue clearly and investigate efficiently. It is helpful if you can include:

Your full name and address.

The date and location of the gardening work or visit you are unhappy with.

A clear description of what went wrong and how this has affected you.

Any relevant information, such as photographs or notes about the work carried out.

What outcome or resolution you would consider reasonable.

Stage One: Informal Resolution

In many cases, concerns can be resolved quickly and informally. If you are comfortable doing so, please raise the issue with the gardener on site or with the person who arranged your booking as soon as possible.

We will:

Listen to your concerns and clarify any points where needed.

Offer to inspect the garden or area of work where appropriate.

Explain what we can do to put the matter right, such as revisiting the property, adjusting work, or reviewing charges.

Agree any immediate next steps with you where possible.

If you are not satisfied with the informal response or prefer a more formal approach from the outset, you can ask for your complaint to be handled under Stage Two.

Stage Two: Formal Written Complaint

If your concern cannot be resolved informally, or you feel the matter is more serious, you can make a formal complaint. Once we receive your complaint, we will:

Acknowledge receipt within a reasonable period, confirming that we have recorded your complaint and begun our review.

Assign your complaint to a manager or senior team member who was not directly involved in the original issue wherever possible.

Investigate the matter, which may include reviewing schedules, job notes, photographs, staff reports and any communication you have provided.

If necessary, arrange a visit to your property to inspect the gardening work in person.

We aim to provide a full written response within a reasonable timeframe. If the investigation will take longer, we will let you know and give an updated timescale.

Our Response and Possible Outcomes

When we have completed our investigation, we will send you a clear explanation of our findings and any actions we propose to take. Depending on the circumstances, this may include:

Offering an apology and explanation.

Arranging for gardeners to revisit and correct or complete work.

Reviewing and, where appropriate, adjusting an invoice or charge.

Making changes to our procedures or staff training to reduce the chance of a similar issue occurring again.

If we find that we have not met our usual standards, we will explain how we intend to put things right. If we do not uphold your complaint, we will provide our reasons clearly and respectfully.

Escalating Your Complaint

If, after receiving our formal response, you remain dissatisfied with the outcome or how your complaint has been handled, you may ask for a further review. In that case we will:

Arrange for a more senior person to review both the original complaint and the way it was investigated.

Consider any additional information you wish to provide.

Issue a final response setting out our decision and the reasons for it.

This internal escalation is the final stage of our complaints procedure. We will always aim to respond to escalated complaints within a reasonable timeframe and will inform you if more time is needed.

Time Limits for Making a Complaint

To help us investigate effectively, we encourage you to raise any concerns about our gardening services as soon as possible after the issue arises. Complaints raised a long time after the event may be harder to investigate fully, as staff, seasonal growth and garden conditions may have changed.

Confidentiality and Data Protection

All complaints are handled in confidence. Information is shared only with those who need it to investigate and resolve the matter. We will store and use your personal information in line with our data protection responsibilities and only for the purposes of managing your complaint and improving our service.

Using Feedback to Improve Our Service

We value feedback from everyone who uses Gardeners Shoreditch. Complaints help us identify where our garden care, customer communication or scheduling can be improved. We routinely review complaints to spot trends and take action, such as refining procedures, updating equipment, or providing additional training for our team.

Accessibility and Support

If you need help to make a complaint or to explain your concerns, please let us know. We will do our best to support you, for example by discussing your complaint verbally or allowing a representative to raise the issue on your behalf where appropriate. Our aim is to ensure that all clients can access and use this procedure easily.

Commitment to Fairness

Gardeners Shoreditch is committed to treating all clients fairly and respectfully throughout the complaints process. We welcome the opportunity to resolve your concerns and to ensure our gardening services continue to meet the standards you expect.