Complaints Procedure — Gardeners Shoreditch

This Complaints Procedure explains how Gardeners Shoreditch and our team of Shoreditch gardeners handle concerns about workmanship, timeliness, or service standards. It applies to anyone who has received or arranged gardening, landscaping or maintenance services from our company within our service area. The purpose is to ensure that every complaint is dealt with promptly, fairly and consistently, and that outcomes are clearly communicated.

Our approach is based on the following principles: fairness, transparency, proportionality and continuous improvement. We aim to make the process easy to use for customers while protecting the integrity of our staff and subcontractors. Where appropriate, we will treat complaints raised by a third party on behalf of a client as valid, provided the complainant has the client's consent.

You may raise a complaint if the service you received from our gardeners in Shoreditch falls below the standard you expected, if agreed work remains incomplete, or if there are concerns about behaviour, safety or damage. Complaints can be made verbally or in writing; please describe the issue, include the date(s) of the service, and outline what outcome you seek. We will accept reports of urgent safety concerns at any time and will prioritise those for immediate action.

The initial response and timescales are as follows. We will acknowledge receipt of your complaint within five business days, and we will aim to provide a full response or update within 20 business days. If a matter requires further investigation—such as a site visit or specialist assessment—we will tell you how long that is likely to take and keep you updated.

A clear, documented investigation helps us resolve matters consistently. Our typical investigatory steps include:

• recording the complaint and assigning a case reference;
• collecting statements from the gardener(s) who attended and any relevant team members;
• arranging a site visit to inspect work, damage or safety issues;
• reviewing contracts, job sheets and photographic evidence;
• proposing recommended actions and timescales.

During an investigation we will take a balanced view of the available evidence. If required, we may request additional information or invite you to provide photographs and documents that support your case. Our aim is to decide what happened, identify responsibility if any, and determine an appropriate remedy. We will apply the same standard of review regardless of whether the complaint concerns routine maintenance, one-off landscaping, or ongoing grounds management.

Possible outcomes and remedies

We seek to resolve complaints in a practical manner that restores confidence in our service. Outcomes can include redoing the work at our cost, offering a proportionate refund for incomplete or substandard work, providing a credit toward future services, or agreeing a remedial schedule. In some cases we may offer a goodwill gesture where that is appropriate, but such gestures do not constitute an admission of liability.

If you remain dissatisfied after the outcome is communicated, you may request an internal review. An internal review will be handled by a senior manager who was not involved in the original decision. That review will re-examine the facts, evidence and the proportionality of the remedy. We will provide a final position statement at the conclusion of the internal review process.

Escalation, records and confidentiality

We maintain a secure record of complaints, findings and actions for monitoring and training purposes. Records are retained in line with data protection and retention best practice; they are used only for legitimate business purposes such as service improvement and dispute resolution. We treat details of complaints as confidential and will not disclose personal information except where required by law or with the consent of the person making the complaint.

We are committed to learning from each complaint. Patterns of recurring issues are analysed by our management team and used to update procedures, training and quality checks for our gardeners in Shoreditch and surrounding areas. This helps reduce the likelihood of repeat problems and supports a higher standard of service for all customers.

Exceptional circumstances: if a complaint relates to alleged criminal activity, threats, or serious safety breaches, it may be necessary to involve external authorities. In such cases we will inform the complainant that external agencies have been or will be notified and we will cooperate fully with any lawful investigation.

Our promise is simple: every concern will be listened to and investigated with respect. We will communicate clearly about the next steps, expected timescales and the outcome, and we will learn from the experience to improve the services provided by Gardeners Shoreditch, our team of Shoreditch gardeners and our wider grounds care teams across the service area.

Final note: raising a concern will never prejudice your access to future services. We value the opportunity to correct mistakes and to strengthen our working relationships. If you have raised a complaint, you can expect consistent updates and a formal written outcome once investigations are complete. Thank you for helping us maintain the standards expected of a professional gardening service.