Complaints and Feedback Procedure

Hello

We’re sorry to hear that you’re unhappy with our service. It’s very rare that our customers tell us that we have not met their, and our own, high standards so when it does happen we take it personally. We will do what we can to put it right.

What this procedure document is for

We want to help you resolve your complaint as quickly as possible. Property Detective is committed to providing a high-quality service to everyone we deal with. In order to do this we need you to give us your feedback, and to tell us when we get things wrong.

We treat all comments on our product and service as feedback. Feedback is valued and we collate it to help us learn from it and improve our service.

We treat any expression of dissatisfaction, where the customer frames it as a making “complaint” or that they are “unhappy” or ‘dissatisfied’ with our service, as a complaint. A complaint calls for a response; we would not normally respond to other feedback and comments. We listen to your complaints, treat them seriously, and learn from them so that we can continuously improve our service.

This policy covers complaints and feedback about:

  • the standard of service we provide;
  • the information provided on our website or in our reports (including that which is gathered from a third party and then provided to you by us); and
  • the behavior of our staff.

Our complaints policy does not cover:

  • complaints that have already been dealt with to the extent of this procedure;
  • anonymous complaints; and
  • complaints about information provided directly to you by our associated or partner websites and resources.

If your complaint falls outside of the scope of our work, or our complaints procedure, please be assured that we will help to connect you to the right person to handle your enquiry.

Feedback

Our approach to feedback

We welcome our customers’ views; they are essential for us to improve our service. From time to time we may directly solicit feedback from our customers, either via social forums, pop-up surveys or email.

We keep data on all feedback, including but not limited to the date of feedback, cause, nature and resolution. In line with our obligations under the Data Protection Act 2008, we keep this data anonymously.

Complaints

Our standards for handling complaints

  • We treat all complaints seriously, whether they are made by letter or by email.
  • You will be treated with courtesy and fairness at all times – and we would hope that you will be courteous and fair in your dealings with our staff at all times.
  • All complaints will be dealt with confidentially and in accordance with the requirements of the Data Protection Act 1998.
  • We will deal with your complaint promptly – we will acknowledge receipt of a written complaint within 5 working days and we will send you a full reply within 20 working days of receipt.
  • If we cannot send a full reply within 20 working days of receipt we will tell you the reason why and let you know when we will be able to reply in full.

How to complain

You can make a complaint in writing by email or by letter to the following addresses.

Property Detective Ltd
2-4 Packhorse Road
Gerrards Cross
Buckinghamshire
SL9 7QE
[email protected]

The stages of the complaints procedure

We have a 2-stage complaints procedure.

Stage 1

This is the first opportunity for us to resolve your dissatisfaction, and the majority of complaints will be resolved at this stage. In the first instance, we will try to get your complaint resolved by reviewing the information and responding to you. We will make reasonable efforts to contact you to discuss your complaint and clarify further details if necessary. At your request, we would be happy to liaise with anyone acting on your behalf.

We will:

  • Acknowledge your complaint within 5 working days;
  • Provide a full response within 20 working days.

If we are unable to provide a response within 20 working days we will keep you informed in writing or by phone (if you would prefer).

This response will aim to explain what went wrong and why. We will take appropriate action to put this right, or correct the error. It is very likely to include a sincere apology, however, an apology is not an acceptance of liability under Section 2 of the Compensation Act 2006. We are also committed to taking steps to ensure the same error does not occur again.

Stage 2

If you are dissatisfied with our response in Stage 1 you may request a review of your complaint by a director. The director will then review the detail of your complaint with a fresh pair of eyes and with his/her authority may provide additional resolution steps in response to your complaint. The director will aim to provide:

  • An acknowledgement of your request within 5 working days; and
  • A full response within 20 working days.

A final written response will be provided no later than 40 working days after the complaint was received.

If you remain dissatisfied

If having followed the 2 stages of our complaints procedure you remain dissatisfied, or if we fail to provide a final written response within 40 working days, you can raise your complaint to an external regulatory body. In this instance, you should contact The Property Ombudsman scheme (TPOs): (t) 01722 333306 or (e) [email protected]. The Ombudsman can carry out independent investigations into complaints. We undertake to cooperate fully with an investigation and comply with any final decision.

TPOs Contact Details:
The Property Ombudsman scheme
Milford House,
43-55 Milford Street,
Salisbury,
Wiltshire
SP1 2BP

Tel: 01722 333306
Fax: 01722 332296
Email: [email protected]

Recording complaints

We will log all complaints we receive so that we can monitor the types of problems, the best way to sort them out and how long we are taking to deal with them. This also helps us to take a closer look at how we can improve our own service delivery.

We will handle your information in line with data protection legislation.