Gardeners Carshalton Complaints Procedure

Gardeners Carshalton is committed to delivering reliable, professional gardening and grounds care services. We recognise that, despite our best efforts, there may be occasions when our service does not meet your expectations. When this happens, we want to hear from you so that we can put things right promptly and improve our standards for the future.

This complaints procedure explains how you can raise a concern or complaint about our gardening services, what information we need from you, how we will respond, and the steps we will take to resolve the matter fairly.

Scope of this complaints procedure

This procedure covers complaints about any aspect of the gardening services provided by Gardeners Carshalton, including but not limited to lawn care, hedge trimming, planting, garden tidy-ups, regular maintenance visits, and related customer service issues such as punctuality, communication, and conduct of our team members.

This procedure does not cover matters that are strictly contractual disputes already subject to legal proceedings, or issues that relate to the services of other companies.

Our guiding principles

When handling complaints, we follow these principles:

We take every complaint seriously and treat it with courtesy and respect.

We investigate complaints objectively and with an open mind.

We aim to resolve issues at the earliest possible stage.

We communicate clearly about what we can do and the time frames involved.

We use feedback and complaints to improve our gardening services and customer experience.

How to make a complaint

If you are unhappy with any aspect of our work, we encourage you to tell us as soon as possible so that we can address the issue quickly. In the first instance, wherever possible, please speak directly to the gardener or team leader who carried out the work. Many concerns can be resolved immediately on site by discussing them with the person involved.

If your concern is not resolved informally, or you prefer not to raise it directly with the gardener, you can submit a formal complaint in writing. Please include the following information so that we can investigate effectively:

Your full name and the address where the gardening work was carried out.

The date or dates of the service you are unhappy with.

A clear description of what went wrong or did not meet your expectations.

Any relevant photographs or notes that help to explain the issue.

What outcome you would consider a fair resolution, where possible.

Stage one: Initial review and acknowledgement

Once we receive your written complaint, we will record it in our internal system and arrange for an appropriate member of our team to review it. We will acknowledge receipt of your complaint within a reasonable time frame and let you know who will be handling your case.

At this stage, we may contact you to request further details or clarification, or to arrange a convenient time to visit the garden so that we can see the issue first-hand. Clear information helps us reach a fair and accurate understanding of what has happened.

Stage two: Investigation and response

We will then investigate your complaint, which may involve:

Reviewing our notes, schedules, and any previous communication with you.

Inspecting the garden or outdoor area where the work was completed.

Speaking to the gardener or team members who carried out the work.

Considering relevant industry practices and safety or environmental considerations.

After we have completed our investigation, we will provide you with a written response. This will explain our understanding of the facts, any findings from our site visit or discussions, and our decision on what action we propose to take. Where we agree that our service has fallen short of our standards, we will offer an appropriate remedy. This may include, for example, correcting the work, revisiting the garden at no extra cost, offering guidance on remedial planting, or another solution that is reasonable in the circumstances.

Stage three: Further review

If you are not satisfied with our initial decision or the proposed remedy, you can ask for a further review. In this case, a senior member of the Gardeners Carshalton team, who was not directly involved in the original work wherever possible, will re-examine the complaint, the evidence, and the outcome reached at stage two.

The reviewer may contact you for additional information or to arrange a further site visit. After this review, we will provide a final written response, setting out our conclusions and any additional steps we can reasonably take.

Time frames

We aim to deal with complaints as quickly as practicable, taking into account the nature of gardening work, seasonal conditions, and the need to inspect outdoor spaces. While exact time frames may vary, we will keep you informed of progress and let you know if we need extra time to complete our investigation, for example due to weather or plant growth considerations.

Recording and using complaints to improve our service

All complaints are recorded and reviewed periodically so that we can identify patterns, training needs, or any areas where our gardening and maintenance services can be improved. This helps us strengthen our standards of workmanship, safety, and customer care for clients throughout our service area.

Confidentiality and data protection

We treat all complaints in confidence and only share details within Gardeners Carshalton where this is necessary to investigate and resolve the issue. Any personal information you provide will be handled in accordance with relevant data protection principles and used only for the purpose of managing your complaint and improving our services.

Accessibility and reasonable adjustments

We want our complaints procedure to be accessible to all customers. If you require assistance in making a complaint, or need us to communicate with you in a particular way, please let us know. We will make reasonable adjustments wherever possible so that you can explain your concerns and receive updates in a clear and convenient manner.

Our commitment to fair outcomes

Gardeners Carshalton values every piece of feedback, whether positive or negative. By following this complaints procedure, we aim to provide a fair, transparent, and timely process for resolving any issues that arise, while continuing to care for gardens and outdoor spaces to a high professional standard.