Complaints Procedure at Gardeners Leamouth

Gardeners Leamouth is committed to providing reliable, professional gardening services and a positive experience for all our customers. If something goes wrong, we want to know about it so we can put things right, learn from the issue, and continually improve our work. This Complaints Procedure explains how to raise a complaint, how we will handle it, and what you can expect from us at each stage.

Our Commitment to Handling Complaints

We treat all complaints seriously and deal with them promptly, fairly and consistently. Our aims are to:

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

Understand what has happened and why you are dissatisfied.

Offer a clear explanation, apology where appropriate, and practical solutions.

Use the feedback to improve our services, staff training and procedures.

This procedure is open to all customers who have used, or are currently using, Gardeners Leamouth for gardening, garden maintenance, or related services.

What Counts as a Complaint

A complaint is any expression of dissatisfaction about the services, behaviour, or actions of Gardeners Leamouth or anyone working on our behalf. This could include, for example:

Concerns about the quality of gardening or grounds maintenance work carried out.

Issues with punctuality, reliability or adherence to agreed schedules.

Concerns about the way you have been treated by our staff or contractors.

Disputes about invoices, agreed prices or the scope of work.

Any situation where you feel we have not met the standards we have promised.

How to Make a Complaint

You can make a complaint in the way that is most convenient for you. We recommend that you bring any concern to our attention as soon as reasonably possible, ideally within a short time of the issue arising, so that we can investigate effectively and resolve matters quickly.

When you contact us, please clearly state that you wish to make a complaint and provide the following information:

Your full name and any reference details we may have used for your booking.

The address or site where the gardening work took place.

The date or dates of the work or incident you are concerned about.

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

What you would consider a reasonable outcome or resolution.

We encourage you to include any relevant supporting information, such as notes, dates, or photographs of the garden area where this helps clarify the issue.

Informal Resolution

In many cases, complaints can be resolved quickly and informally. If you are comfortable doing so, please raise your concern directly with the gardener on site or with the person who organised your service. They will do their best to understand the problem and resolve it promptly, for example by revisiting the garden, correcting any missed work, or clarifying what was agreed.

If you are not satisfied with the informal response, or do not feel able to raise the matter directly with the individual, you may use the formal complaints process set out below.

Formal Complaints Process

Once we receive your complaint formally, we will follow these steps.

1. Acknowledgement

We will acknowledge your complaint as soon as reasonably possible. In this acknowledgement we will confirm that we have received your concerns and explain the next steps and indicative timescales.

2. Investigation

A member of our management team will review your complaint. This may involve:

Checking our records, including booking details, work schedules and invoices.

Speaking with the gardening team or individuals involved.

Reviewing any photographs, correspondence or other evidence you provide.

Where helpful, we may contact you to ask for further information or clarification about what happened and what outcome you are seeking.

3. Response and Outcome

Once we have completed our investigation, we will provide you with a clear written response. This response will include:

A summary of your complaint and the issues raised.

Details of the steps we took to investigate.

Our findings and any conclusions reached.

Any offer of remedial work, refund, partial refund, or other resolution where appropriate.

Where we are not upholding all or part of your complaint, we will explain our reasons as clearly as possible.

Possible Resolutions

Depending on the nature of the complaint and the outcome of our investigation, possible resolutions may include:

Arranging for a gardener to return to your property to complete or correct work.

Offering alternative gardening solutions to address any remaining issues.

Providing an apology and explanation for what went wrong.

Agreeing an adjustment to an invoice or, in some circumstances, a partial or full refund.

Taking internal action such as additional staff training or procedure changes to prevent recurrence.

Timescales

We aim to deal with complaints as quickly as possible while ensuring a thorough and fair review. Actual timescales will depend on the complexity of the complaint and the availability of relevant information, especially where site visits or multiple parties are involved. If we are unable to provide a full response within a reasonable time, we will keep you updated on progress and let you know when you can expect a final outcome.

Escalating Your Complaint

If you are dissatisfied with our final response, you may ask for the complaint to be reviewed again by a more senior member of our team where possible. When requesting an escalation, please explain why you are unhappy with the outcome and what you believe we have not addressed.

We will review the original complaint, the steps taken and the decision reached, and we will let you know whether we are able to offer any further resolution. This review will represent our final position on the matter.

Confidentiality and Data Protection

We treat all complaints in confidence and only share information internally where it is necessary to investigate and respond. Any personal information you provide will be handled in line with our data protection obligations and used only for the purpose of managing your complaint and improving our services.

Using Feedback to Improve Our Gardening Services

Every complaint is an opportunity for Gardeners Leamouth to learn and to strengthen the quality, reliability and safety of our gardening and garden maintenance work. We regularly review complaint outcomes to identify patterns, update our training, and refine how we plan, carry out and supervise jobs. By telling us when something is not right, you help us improve the service we offer to you and to other customers in the future.