Zest Property Group is committed to providing a professional and high-quality service. If something goes wrong, we want to know about it so that we can investigate the matter and, where appropriate, put things right.
We recognise that some customers may require additional support when making a complaint because of factors such as age, infirmity, disability, lack of knowledge, linguistic or numeracy difficulties, economic circumstances, bereavement, or because English is not their first language. Please let us know if you require any assistance or reasonable adjustments when making your complaint.
How to make a complaint
If you have a complaint, please put it in writing and include as much detail as possible. This will help us understand your concerns and investigate them properly.
Complaints can be raised in confidence. If your complaint concerns the conduct of a particular member of staff, that person will not be involved in the investigation, consideration or decision relating to your complaint. The matter will instead be handled by another appropriate member of the Zest team.
What will happen next?
- We will send you written acknowledgement of your complaint within 3 working days of receiving it and will provide you with a copy of this complaints procedure.
- We will then investigate your complaint. This will normally be dealt with by the relevant office manager or another appropriate senior member of staff, who will review the information available and speak to the relevant members of the team.
- If you live in a Unipol/ANUK National Code accredited building, we will provide you with a substantive written response within 10 working days of receiving your complaint. If the matter is particularly complex and we are unable to provide a full response within 10 working days, we will write to you within that period explaining why further time is required and when you can expect to receive our full response.
- For complaints relating to accommodation which is not covered by the Unipol/ANUK National Code, we will provide a formal written outcome of our investigation within 15 working days of receiving the complaint.
- If you are not satisfied with our response, please contact us again and request a review. A separate review will be undertaken by a senior member of staff who has not previously determined the complaint.
- We will write to you within 15 working days of receiving your request for a review, confirming our final viewpoint. For complaints relating to a Unipol/ANUK National Code accredited building, we will respond to your request for review within 10 working days.
Unipol/ANUK National Code complaints
If you live in accommodation covered by the Unipol/ANUK National Code and you remain unhappy with the outcome of your complaint, you may refer the matter through the National Code complaints procedure.
You may also make a complaint to the Codes Complaints Investigator if Zest has not responded to your complaint within 28 days of it being lodged with us.
Further information about the National Code complaints procedure, including how to make a complaint, can be found here:
https://www.nationalcode.org/for-students/problems-complaints
The Property Ombudsman
If you are still not satisfied with our final viewpoint, or more than 8 weeks have elapsed since your complaint was first made, you may be able to request an independent review from The Property Ombudsman free of charge.
The Property Ombudsman
Unit 159756
PO Box 7169
Poole
BH15 9EL
Telephone: 01722 333 306
Website: www.tpos.co.uk
You must submit your complaint to The Property Ombudsman within 12 months of the date of our final viewpoint, together with any evidence you wish them to consider.
The Property Ombudsman requires complaints to have been considered through our in-house complaints procedure before they are submitted for independent review.
