Its True, Sometimes we don't get everything right.

Our commitment

At Orchards, we aim to provide a professional, helpful and reliable service. When something goes wrong, we want to understand what has happened and have the opportunity to put it right.
This procedure explains how to raise a complaint about our sales, lettings, property management and associated maintenance services, how we will investigate it, and where you can seek an independent review.

You do not need to be a paying client to raise a concern about our service. We welcome complaints from sellers, buyers, landlords, tenants, applicants and others affected by our work.

We will handle your complaint fairly, respectfully and without charge. Making a complaint will not, in itself, affect the service you receive from us.

1. How to raise a complaint

You are welcome to speak to the member of our team handling your matter first. Many concerns can be resolved through a conversation, but you do not have to take this informal step before making a formal complaint.

To help us understand and investigate your concerns, please complete the complaint form below or;

By post:
Complaints Manager
Orchards Ampthill Ltd
The Old School House
66 Bedford Street
Ampthill
Bedfordshire
MK45 2NB

Telephone: 01525 402266.

Please include, where available:

• Your name, contact details and the property address or reference.

• What happened, when it happened, who was involved and any relevant correspondence or supporting documents.

• How the matter has affected you and what you would like us to do to resolve it.

Please provide the information you have; you do not need to gather every document before contacting us.

You can also raise a complaint by telephone or in person. Where necessary, we will help you put your concerns into writing and provide a written summary for you to check. You do not need to use a particular form or specific wording for us to recognise a complaint.

Help with making your complaint

Please tell us about any support or reasonable adjustments you need, such as a different communication format or help explaining your concerns.
You may appoint a representative to act on your behalf. We may need to confirm their authority before sharing personal or confidential information.

2. Acknowledgement and investigation

We will acknowledge your complaint in writing within three working days of receiving it. Our acknowledgement will identify who is handling the complaint and explain the next steps.

An appropriate manager or senior member of the team will investigate. Wherever possible, this will be someone who is not the subject of your complaint.

We will review the relevant records, consider the information you provide and speak to those involved. We may contact you to clarify particular points or request further information.

We aim to send you a substantive written response within 15 working days of receiving your complaint. This will explain our findings, the reasons for our conclusions and any action we propose to take.

Where we identify a mistake or shortfall in our service, we will explain how we intend to address it. Depending on the circumstances, this may include an apology, corrective action, a refund or another appropriate remedy.

If we need more time, we will explain why, tell you when to expect our response and keep you informed. Any extension will not remove your ability to approach Property Redress once its referral criteria are met.

3. Requesting a director’s review

If you remain dissatisfied with our response, please reply to the person handling your complaint or use the contact details above, asking for a director’s review.

Please explain which points remain unresolved and why you disagree with our response. You may also provide any additional information you would like us to consider.

The review will be carried out by a director or another suitably senior person who, wherever possible, has not previously been involved. Where the complaint concerns a director, it will normally be referred to another director.

We will acknowledge your review request within three working days and aim to issue our final written response within 15 working days of receiving the request.

Our final response will explain our conclusions, any proposed resolution and your options for independent redress.

Moving between stages of our procedure does not restart the eight-week period relevant to referral to Property Redress.

4. Independent review through Property Redress

We are a member of Property Redress, also known as the Property Redress Scheme. It is an independent, government-approved redress scheme, and its complaints service is free for consumers.

You can ask Property Redress to consider your complaint if it remains unresolved after eight weeks from the date we received your written complaint, even if our internal process has not finished.

Property Redress may accept a complaint earlier where you have received our final response and remain dissatisfied. Its rules also allow earlier acceptance in certain other circumstances, including where urgent resolution is needed or the agent is not responding within a reasonable time. Acceptance is a decision for Property Redress.

Your complaint must be referred within 12 months of your last communication with us about the issues concerned. Property Redress will assess whether the complaint falls within its rules and jurisdiction.

Property Redress contact details

Website: www.propertyredress.co.uk — select “Make a complaint”
Email: info@propertyredress.co.uk
Telephone: 0333 321 9418

By post:
Property Redress
Limelight
1st Floor, Studio 3
Elstree Way
Borehamwood
Hertfordshire
WD6 1JH. Property Redress

We will cooperate with Property Redress and comply with any decision that becomes binding on us under its rules. Property Redress

5. Complaints about personal information

If your complaint concerns how we collect, use, store or share personal information, please contact us using the details in section 1. It is helpful to mark your correspondence “Data protection complaint”, although this is not a requirement.

Our acknowledgement and response targets above also apply to these complaints. In all cases, we will acknowledge a data protection complaint within 30 calendar days, investigate appropriately, keep you informed and communicate the outcome without undue delay. ICO

If you remain dissatisfied, you can raise your concerns with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). The Property Redress process does not replace this route.

ICO website: ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint
ICO telephone: 0303 123 1113.

Requests to exercise your data protection rights, such as requesting access to your personal information, will be handled under the applicable statutory requirements and timescales. Those timescales are not extended by this complaints procedure.

6. Urgent repairs and safety concerns

Please do not wait for a complaint response before reporting an urgent repair or safety concern.

For properties we manage, contact our team on 01525 402266 during office hours. For emergency maintenance outside office hours, please visit www.orchards.co.uk/tenants. The out-of-hours number is for emergencies only.

We will assess and progress urgent issues separately from the complaints investigation. Raising a complaint will not be a reason to delay any necessary urgent action within our responsibility.

7. Matters involving landlords, contractors or other organisations

Where your complaint involves a landlord, contractor or another organisation, we will explain our role and any limits on our authority. We will still investigate concerns about our own actions, communication or handling of the matter.

Some disputes may need a separate resolution process. For example, a dispute about tenancy deposit deductions may be more appropriately considered by the relevant deposit protection scheme, and some legal disputes may require a court or tribunal. This does not prevent you from complaining to us about our service.

Nothing in this procedure removes your statutory rights or prevents you from seeking independent advice or contacting an appropriate regulator or authority. Please seek advice promptly about any separate deadlines that may apply to your dispute.

8. Records and service improvements

We will keep an appropriate record of your complaint, our investigation, correspondence and the outcome. Information will be handled securely and shared only where reasonably necessary to investigate or resolve the complaint, obtain advice or meet legal obligations.

We use the issues raised through complaints to identify improvements to our services, procedures and staff training.

For this procedure, working days means Monday to Friday, excluding bank holidays in England.