Gardeners Barbican Complaints Procedure

Gardeners Barbican is committed to providing reliable, high quality gardening and grounds care services. We recognise that, on occasion, things may not go as planned. When this happens, we want to know about it so we can put matters right promptly and improve our services. 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 procedure is to provide a clear, fair and accessible process for customers who wish to raise a complaint about any aspect of our gardening services. It covers domestic and commercial work, including regular garden maintenance, one-off tidy ups, lawn care and related services delivered by Gardeners Barbican.

This procedure is designed to ensure that complaints are taken seriously, investigated thoroughly and resolved wherever possible to the satisfaction of all parties.

What We Class as a Complaint

A complaint is any expression of dissatisfaction about our services, staff, work quality, communication, charges or conduct, whether it is made verbally or in writing, and whether it is made during or after the service has been carried out.

Examples of complaints include, but are not limited to:

Work not completed as agreed in the quotation or booking details.

Gardening work that you believe is below the standard you reasonably expected.

Missed or late appointments without adequate explanation.

Concerns about the behaviour or attitude of a team member on site.

Disputes about charges or unexpected additional costs.

Comments and suggestions that are clearly positive or neutral are not treated as complaints, but we still welcome this feedback as it helps us improve.

How to Make a Complaint

You can make a complaint in any of the following ways:

Verbally to a member of our team on site at the time of service.

Verbally to our office or customer service team.

In writing, providing as much detail as possible about the issue.

When raising your complaint, please include the following information wherever possible:

Your full name and the service address.

The date the gardening work took place and any future booking dates.

A clear description of what went wrong or what you are dissatisfied with.

Any photos, notes or other information that may help us understand the issue.

What outcome you would like to see, for example, a revisit, correction of work or explanation.

Providing detailed information at the outset helps us to investigate and resolve your complaint more quickly.

Our Complaints Handling Stages

Stage 1: Initial Review and Acknowledgement

Once we receive your complaint, we will record it in our internal system and assign it to an appropriate person for review. We aim to acknowledge your complaint within a reasonable period of time. The acknowledgement will confirm that we have received your complaint and outline the next steps.

Stage 2: Investigation

Your complaint will be investigated by a manager or senior team member who was not directly responsible for the issue wherever possible. The investigation may include:

Reviewing your original booking, quotation and job notes.

Speaking with the gardeners or staff involved.

Reviewing any photos or evidence provided by you or our team.

We may contact you for further information or clarification if needed. During this stage we focus on understanding what happened, why it happened and how best to resolve it.

Stage 3: Response and Resolution

After the investigation is completed, we will provide you with a response setting out:

Our understanding of your complaint.

What we found in our investigation.

Any steps we have already taken to address the issue.

Our proposed resolution and, if appropriate, measures to prevent a recurrence.

Possible resolutions may include, but are not limited to, a return visit to correct work, partial or full reduction of charges where justified, or an explanation and clarification where expectations or scope of work were not aligned at the outset.

Escalating Your Complaint

If you are not satisfied with the outcome at Stage 3, you may ask for your complaint to be escalated. In this case, a more senior member of our management team, who has not previously been involved in the matter, will review both your complaint and our initial handling of it.

The escalation review will focus on whether the complaint was handled fairly, whether our findings were reasonable based on the evidence available, and whether the proposed resolution is appropriate. At the end of this review we will provide you with a final position on your complaint within a reasonable timescale.

Time Limits for Raising a Complaint

We encourage you to raise any concerns as soon as possible after the issue arises. This allows us to investigate while the details of the gardening work and site conditions are still fresh and can be more accurately assessed.

As a guide, we ask that complaints are raised within a reasonable period of time after the service date. However, we will always consider individual circumstances and will not refuse to review a complaint simply because time has passed, provided a fair investigation is still possible.

Your Responsibilities During the Process

To help us resolve your complaint effectively, we ask that you:

Provide accurate and complete information when you first contact us.

Allow reasonable access to the garden or grounds if we need to inspect the work.

Communicate with our staff in a respectful and constructive manner.

Consider any proposed solutions in good faith, even if they differ from your initial expectations.

Working together in this way helps to ensure that issues can be dealt with promptly and fairly.

How We Use Complaints to Improve

Every complaint is an opportunity for us to review how we operate and identify ways to improve. We may use information from complaints to:

Update our training for gardeners and customer service staff.

Refine our quoting and job scoping processes to make them clearer.

Adjust scheduling or communication procedures to reduce the likelihood of similar issues occurring in future.

We review complaint trends periodically to identify any recurring themes and take wider action where needed.

Confidentiality and Data Handling

All complaints are handled in confidence. Information you provide will be used only for the purposes of investigating and resolving your complaint and for improving our services. We handle personal data in line with applicable data protection principles and retain records of complaints for an appropriate period to support quality assurance and staff training.

Summary

Gardeners Barbican aims to deliver dependable, professional gardening services and to resolve any concerns quickly and fairly. This complaints procedure sets out a clear path for raising issues, from initial contact through to final resolution, and underscores our commitment to openness, accountability and continuous improvement in the care of your garden or outdoor space.