Gardeners Kennington Complaints Procedure

Gardeners Kennington is committed to providing reliable, professional gardening and outdoor maintenance 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 things right 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.

Our Commitment to You

We aim to handle all complaints promptly, fairly, and consistently. Every complaint is taken seriously, whether it relates to a one-off visit or ongoing garden maintenance. Our goals are to understand what happened, explain our findings clearly, and agree a fair outcome wherever possible.

We also use the information from complaints to review our working practices, staff training, and communication with customers. This helps us to maintain high standards of gardening, landscaping, and customer care across our service area.

What Counts as a Complaint

A complaint is any expression of dissatisfaction about our services, staff, communication, or the way we have handled a previous issue. Examples include concerns about the quality of gardening work, missed or delayed appointments, conduct or attitude of team members, or how we have dealt with a query or request for changes.

You do not need to formally label your concern as a complaint. If you tell us you are unhappy and would like us to look into something, we will treat it as a complaint and follow this procedure.

How to Make a Complaint

You can raise a complaint in writing or verbally. If you contact us by phone, we may ask to confirm key details in writing so that we have a clear record of your concerns. If you contact us in writing, please include your full name, service address, when the work took place, what you are unhappy about, and what outcome you are seeking, such as a repair, a revisit, or an explanation.

Providing as much detail as possible, including dates, times, and descriptions of the gardening work carried out, helps us to investigate your complaint thoroughly and respond more quickly.

Time Limits for Raising Complaints

We ask that you raise any complaint as soon as reasonably possible after the issue arises. This makes it easier for us to review the work completed, speak to the relevant team members, and identify what went wrong. While we will always try to consider concerns raised later, it may be more difficult to investigate matters from the distant past.

How We Will Handle Your Complaint

Once we receive your complaint, we will follow these steps. First, we will acknowledge your complaint. We aim to confirm that we have received your complaint within a reasonable period. In this acknowledgement, we will outline the next steps and who will be dealing with your case.

Next, we will investigate your complaint. This may include reviewing job records, schedules, and photographs of the work, speaking with the gardening team who attended your property, and, where appropriate, arranging a site visit to inspect the garden or outdoor area. Our aim is to establish a clear understanding of what has happened and whether our service has fallen below our standards.

After our investigation, we will respond with our findings. We will explain the outcome in clear language, set out any actions we propose to take, and, where relevant, suggest practical solutions, such as remedial work, a further visit, or adjustments to future service plans. We will also explain any learning points identified for our team.

Response Times

We aim to deal with all complaints as quickly as possible. Simple issues may be resolved within a short timeframe, particularly if we can confirm what has happened straight away. More complex complaints, such as those involving multiple visits or detailed landscaping work, may take longer while we gather all relevant information.

If there is likely to be a delay in providing a full response, we will let you know and explain the reason, as well as when you can expect a further update from us.

Possible Outcomes and Remedies

Where we find that our service has fallen short of our usual standards, we will seek to offer a fair and practical remedy. This may include arranging for additional gardening work or corrections to be carried out, adjusting a future visit, discussing alternative service options, or providing a partial or full refund where appropriate to the circumstances.

Our priority is to restore your confidence in our services, ensure your garden or outdoor space is left in an appropriate condition, and minimise any inconvenience caused.

If You Are Still Unhappy

If you are not satisfied with our response, you can ask for your complaint to be reviewed by a more senior member of our team. When you do this, please explain which parts of our response you disagree with and why. The reviewer will consider the original complaint, the investigation, and any new information you provide, and then issue a final decision on behalf of Gardeners Kennington.

We will always try to resolve matters directly and constructively. If, after our final response, you remain unhappy, you may wish to seek independent advice regarding any further options that might be available to you.

Confidentiality and Data Protection

All complaints are handled in confidence. Information is shared only with staff members who need it in order to investigate and respond. Any personal information you provide as part of your complaint will be stored and used in line with our data protection responsibilities and only for the purpose of managing your case and improving our services.

Continuous Improvement

We review complaints on a regular basis to identify patterns, training needs, and opportunities for improvement. Feedback from our customers, including complaints, plays an important role in helping us maintain consistent gardening standards and a professional service across the areas we serve.

By following this complaints procedure, Gardeners Kennington aims to deal with problems in a transparent, respectful, and efficient way, ensuring that your concerns are heard and that we continue to develop and improve the services we provide.