Gardeners Hoxton Complaints Procedure

Gardeners Hoxton is committed to providing reliable, high quality 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 matters right and continually 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 every complaint in a fair, consistent and timely way. We will always take your concerns seriously, treat you with respect and courtesy, and keep your information confidential. We will use the outcome of complaints to review our gardening practices, staff training and service standards across our service area.

What Is a Complaint

A complaint is any expression of dissatisfaction about our gardening work, customer service or the way in which a previous concern has been handled. This might include issues such as the quality of lawn care, hedge trimming, planting work, garden clearances, punctuality of our teams, conduct of staff on site, or the accuracy of an invoice. If you are unhappy with any part of our service, we encourage you to tell us.

Step 1: Raising Your Complaint Informally

In the first instance, we encourage you to raise your concern informally with the gardener on site or with the office team as soon as possible. Many issues can be resolved quickly by discussing what has happened, agreeing what is needed to put it right, and arranging any remedial work.

When raising your concern informally, it is helpful if you can provide details of the property, the date and time of the visit, the work that was scheduled, and exactly what you feel has gone wrong. We will do our best to resolve the matter at this stage and confirm what action we will take and when.

Step 2: Making a Formal Complaint

If your concern cannot be resolved informally, or you prefer to make a formal complaint from the outset, you may do so in writing. Clearly explain that you are making a complaint and provide as much relevant information as you can, including:

The address where the work took place, the date of the gardening visit or visits, a description of the agreed work or quotation, details of what went wrong or did not meet your expectations, any steps already taken to try to resolve the matter, and the outcome you are seeking, such as a return visit, correction of the work or a review of charges.

We encourage you to submit your complaint as soon as possible after the event so that we can investigate promptly while details are still clear.

Acknowledging Your Complaint

Once we receive your formal complaint, we will acknowledge it within a reasonable period of time. In our acknowledgement, we will confirm that we have received your complaint, outline the next steps, and if possible, provide an estimated timescale for our full response.

If we need more information from you to begin our investigation, we will ask for clarification or supporting details. This helps us to understand the circumstances clearly and ensures that our response is thorough and accurate.

How We Investigate

Your complaint will be reviewed by a member of our management team who was not directly involved in the original work wherever possible. We may:

Check our records of visits, bookings and invoices, speak with the gardeners or team leaders who attended your property, review any photographs, notes or job sheets relating to the service, and if appropriate, arrange a site visit so we can see the garden or outdoor space again.

Our aim is to establish what has happened, whether our service fell below the standard we expect, and what we can reasonably do to put things right.

Our Response and Possible Outcomes

After completing our investigation, we will provide you with a clear response. This will explain our understanding of your complaint, what we have found in our investigation, any factors that may have contributed to the issue, and the outcome and any actions we will take.

Possible outcomes may include an apology, an explanation, a corrective visit to your garden, adjustments to your invoice, changes to our procedures, or staff training to prevent similar issues in future. If we find that we do not agree with part or all of your complaint, we will explain our reasoning in full.

Timeframes

We aim to resolve most complaints as quickly as possible. Many can be addressed within a short period, particularly where a return visit or minor adjustment is required. More complex issues, such as disputes over extensive landscaping work or recurring service problems, may take longer to investigate. If we need additional time, we will keep you informed and provide an updated timescale.

If You Remain Dissatisfied

If you are not satisfied with the outcome of your complaint, you may request that the decision be reviewed. A more senior member of our team will then reconsider the matter, taking into account all the information already gathered and any additional points you wish to raise. Following this review, we will provide you with our final position on the complaint.

Using Complaints to Improve Our Service

Every complaint provides us with valuable feedback about our gardening services and customer care. We regularly review the issues raised, look for patterns or recurring themes, and use this information to improve how we plan our work, communicate with clients and maintain gardens across our service area. This may include updating our work checklists, revising our service descriptions, or enhancing staff training.

Confidentiality and Data Protection

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 will store and manage your information securely in line with our data protection responsibilities.

Accessibility of This Procedure

We want our complaints procedure to be easy to understand and simple to use. If you need this information explained in a different way, or if you require assistance in making a complaint, please let us know. We will take reasonable steps to support you so that any concerns about our gardening work can be heard and addressed.