PURPOSE OF THIS COMPLAINTS POLICY

SMART Garden Offices (SMART) is dedicated to providing excellent customer service and recognises the importance of customer complaints as a valuable form of feedback about its product, services/customer service or even its employees.

The purpose of this policy is to ensure that all complaints are handled correctly and that all customer complaints or comments are taken seriously.

This procedure outlines the aims of the business in dealing with complaints and sets out what our customers can expect when making a complaint. It also ensures that anyone working for SMART understands how to handle complaints.

SMART is dedicated to resolve complaints quickly and fairly ensuring they are handled as efficiently and effectively as possible.

WHAT IS A COMPLAINT?

A complaint is a dissatisfaction about the products/services offered by SMART Garden Offices, their staff, or the lack of action taken regarding operations, facilities or services provided by the company, or by a person or body acting on behalf of the company.

WHAT THE POLICY COVERS

This policy is expected to cover, but is not limited to:

• The quality of the product you have received from SMART
• Defects, poor workmanship or other problems associated with the provision of services by SMART.
• The behaviour or professionalism of staff employed by SMART or persons acting on behalf of SMART
• The quality of service you have received from SMART

HOW TO MAKE A COMPLAINT

All Complaints should be submitted in writing by either of the following methods:

• By post to: SMART Garden Offices, Thurston Park, Church Road, Thurston. Bury St Edmunds. IP31 3RN
• By email to: customerservice@smartgardenoffices.co.uk

When making a complaint, you will be required to provide the following information:

• Your full name
• Your full address,
• Your telephone number
• Your email address
• The Sales Order number or the Invoice number
• Full details of your complaint including times, dates, events, and people involved, including any documents or other evidence you wish to supply in support of your complaint.
• If the complaint is regarding a specific employee, please confirm their name and their position (if known).
• Details of how you would like SMART to resolve your complaint (Please note that whilst we will make every reasonable effort to accommodate your requests, we are not bound to take any action beyond that which we may be contractually, or otherwise legally obliged, to take).

HOW SMART WILL HANDLE YOUR COMPLAINT

SMART operate a 3-stage complaint handling procedure and will always aim to resolve your complaint at stage 1.

However, if you are not satisfied at the end of stage 1, you can escalate it to stage 2, and if you are still not satisfied at the conclusion of Stage 2, you can escalate it to stage 3 where it will be handled by a member of the Senior Management Team.

Stage 1:

Upon receipt of your complaint, our Customer Services team will acknowledge receipt of it, in writing, within 1 working day. The complaint will be logged, and you will be provided with a reference number and a named complaint handler.

If we require any further information or evidence from you, we will contact you as quickly as is reasonably possible. We request that you supply any such information or evidence as quickly as you can so as not to delay the complaints handling process.  If for any reason you are unable to provide the requested information or evidence, we will use all reasonable efforts to proceed without it, however, please be aware that we will not ask for further information or evidence unless we consider it important to the successful resolution of your complaint.

If your complaint is regarding a specific employee, the employee will be informed and given the opportunity to respond. All communication must remain between you and the stage 1 complaint handler and not directly with the employee.

We aim to resolve Stage 1 complaints within 7 working days, however if your complaint is complex, this may not be possible. If it is not possible, you will be informed of the delay and the reasons why, along with the likely length of the delay.

At the conclusion of the stage 1 complaints procedure, we will provide you with full details of our investigation, our conclusion and any actions we have or will take as a result.

Stage 2:

If you are not satisfied with the resolution of your complaint at Stage 1, you can request to your stage 1 complaint handler to escalate it to Stage 2 within 3 working days. Your complaint will then be passed to a supervisor or manager.

Escalated complaints will be acknowledged in writing, within 2 working days and you will be notified of your stage 2 complaint handler.

If the complaint relates to a specific employee, that person will be informed that the complaint has been escalated to stage 2 and the employee will be given a further opportunity to respond. All communication must remain between you and the stage 2 complaint handler and not directly with the employee.

If we require any further information or evidence from you, we will contact you as quickly as is reasonably possible. We request that you supply any such information or evidence as quickly as you can so as not to delay the complaints handling process.  If for any reason you are unable to provide the requested information or evidence, we will use all reasonable efforts to proceed without it, however, please be aware that we will not ask for further information or evidence unless we consider it important to the successful resolution of your complaint.

We aim to resolve Stage 2 complaints within 10 working days, however if your complaint is complex, this may not be possible. If it is not possible, you will be informed of the delay and the reasons why, along with the likely length of the delay.

At the conclusion of the stage 2 complaints procedure, we will provide you with the full details of our investigation, our conclusions and any actions we have or will take as a result. result.

Stage 3 – Appeal

If however you are not satisfied with the resolution of your complaint at Stage 2, you can appeal the decision within 7 working days. The complaint will then be escalated to stage 3 and will be handled by a member of our senior management team.

Appeals will be acknowledged in writing, within 2 working days, and you will be notified of your appeal handler.

If the appeal relates to a specific employee, that person will be informed that an appeal has been made and the employee will be given a further opportunity to respond. All communication must remain between you and your appeal handler and not directly with the employee.

If we require any further information or evidence from you, we will contact you as quickly as is reasonably possible. We request that you supply any such information or evidence as quickly as is reasonably possible. If for any reason you are unable to provide the requested information or evidence, we will use all reasonable efforts to proceed without it, however, please be aware that we will not ask for further information or evidence unless we consider it important to the successful resolution of your appeal.

We aim to resolve Stage 2 complaints within 14 working days, however if your complaint is complex, this may not be possible. If it is not possible, you will be informed of the delay and the reasons why, along with the likely length of the delay.

At the conclusion of the appeal procedure, we will provide you with full details of our investigation, our conclusion, and any actions we have or will take as a result. At this stage, our decision is final.

HOW TO DISPUTE OUR RESOLUTION

If you remain unhappy with our conclusion, you may be entitled to refer your complaint to the Ombudsman Services.

To find out more about the Ombudsman and how you might be able to use their service, visit their website – https://www.ombudsman-services.org/

CONFIDENTIALITY AND DATA PROTECTION

All complaints and information relating to the complaint will be treated with the utmost confidence. Information will only be shared with those employees of SMART who are designated to handle your complaint.

All personal information that we may collect (including, but not limited to, your name and address) will be collected, used and held in accordance with the provisions of UK data protection law (including but not limited to the UK GDPR, the Data Protection Act 2018, and the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations 2003) and your rights thereunder, as set out in our Privacy Policy available from our website.