Gardeners Morden Complaints Procedure

Gardeners Morden is committed to providing reliable, well organised and professional gardening services. We recognise that, on occasion, things may not go as planned. When this happens, we want to hear from you so that we can put matters right and learn from the experience. This complaints procedure sets out how you can raise a concern and how we will deal with it in a fair and timely way.

Purpose of this Complaints Procedure

The purpose of this procedure is to explain how clients can make a complaint, what information we need, how we will respond, and the steps we will take to resolve issues. It applies to all gardening and maintenance services provided by Gardeners Morden, including regular garden care, one-off tidy ups and project-based work.

We aim to deal with all complaints courteously and respectfully, and to reach an outcome that is reasonable for both you and our team. Feedback from complaints is used to improve our services and internal processes.

What We Class as a Complaint

A complaint is any expression of dissatisfaction about the standard of our work, the conduct of our gardeners or office staff, or the way in which we have delivered or managed our services. Examples include concerns about the quality of gardening work carried out, the condition in which a property was left, missed or late appointments, communication issues or the way a previous concern was handled.

General feedback, suggestions and routine queries are not treated as complaints, but we still welcome them and respond wherever appropriate.

How to Make a Complaint

You can raise a complaint in writing or verbally. In all cases, please provide as much clear information as possible so that we can understand and investigate the issue. Where possible, we encourage you to raise your concern as soon as you become aware of a problem, ideally within 14 days of the work taking place or the issue arising.

When making a complaint, please include the following details:

Your full name and the address where the gardening service was provided. The date, or dates, when the work took place. A description of the service you booked, such as regular lawn care, hedge trimming or a one-off clearance. A clear description of what went wrong, including any relevant times and names if you have them. What you would like us to do to put things right, if you have a particular outcome in mind.

We will never refuse to consider a complaint because it is made verbally or without specific formatting. However, providing the information above helps us to investigate more effectively.

Initial Acknowledgement

Once we receive your complaint, we will acknowledge it as soon as reasonably possible. We will normally confirm that we have received your complaint and let you know that it is being looked into. Where appropriate, we may contact you to clarify details or to request additional information that will assist the investigation.

If your complaint is about an ongoing gardening visit or a team that is currently on site, we will aim to address urgent issues immediately where it is safe and practical to do so.

Investigating Your Complaint

Your complaint will be reviewed by a person who is not directly responsible for the matter being complained about, wherever this is possible. We may speak to the gardeners or office staff involved, check schedules and job records, and, where relevant, review before and after notes regarding the work carried out at your property.

We will consider whether the service provided met our usual standards and whether our terms and conditions were followed. We may contact you to discuss your experience and to ensure we have a complete understanding of your concerns before reaching a conclusion.

Our Response and Timeframes

We aim to provide a full response to complaints within 10 working days of acknowledging them. If we need longer because the matter is complex or because key people are unavailable, we will let you know and provide an estimated timescale for our final response.

Our response will explain the outcome of our investigation, any findings we have made and any steps we propose to take. Where we find that something has gone wrong, we will seek to offer a fair resolution. This may include rectifying work, scheduling a revisit, adjusting an invoice, offering an explanation or apology, or taking internal action such as staff training.

Escalating Your Complaint

If you are not satisfied with our initial response, you can ask for your complaint to be reviewed at a higher level within Gardeners Morden. When requesting an escalation, please explain why you remain dissatisfied and specify any points you feel have not been addressed.

The escalated review will consider both the original complaint and the way it was handled. A further response will then be issued, which will normally be our final position on the matter. We will aim to complete this review within a reasonable timeframe and will let you know if further time is required.

Our Commitment to Fairness and Confidentiality

We treat all complaints seriously and will not discriminate against any client who raises a concern in good faith. Making a complaint will not affect your right to use our gardening services in the future, provided our standard terms of business can still be met.

Information you provide in connection with a complaint will be handled sensitively and used only for the purpose of investigating and resolving the matter, managing our relationship with you and meeting any legal or regulatory obligations we may have.

Continuous Improvement

Complaints and other feedback play an important role in helping Gardeners Morden improve its services. We regularly review the issues raised, look for recurring themes and consider whether changes to our working practices, training or service options are required.

By following this complaints procedure, we aim to resolve issues promptly and constructively, helping to maintain a high standard of gardening services for all clients in our service area.