APL Complaints Procedure

APL Members pride themselves and are accredited to provide the very highest levels of professional service. However, if during or after working with an APL Member a client or other stakeholder is dissatisfied and unable to agree a solution with the APL Member, they may initiate this Complaints Resolution Procedure. The APL will then follow this procedure to facilitate a satisfactory resolution for the Member, Client, or other Stakeholder. Complaints raised through this procedure are treated seriously and are acknowledged to within two working days of their receipt. All APL Members are required to have their own complaints procedure, and should this fail to provide satisfaction they are required as a condition of APL membership to engage with this Complaints Resolution procedure.

Please note that complaints dealt with through this procedure are and remain contractually between the parties involved; the APL’s role is solely to act as a facilitating third-party during the duration of this procedure. The APL is a specialist group of the Horticultural Trades Association (hta.org.uk), registered company number 00169606.

How to initiate the Complaints Resolution Procedure

1) If you are unable to resolve an issue or complaint with an APL member directly with them, please send details of your complaint to the APL

• Email: [email protected] 
• Post: The APL, Horticulture House, Chilton, Didcot, Oxfordshire, OX11 0RN

For the purposes of clarity, in this document the term ‘Complainant’ refers to the party raising a complaint about an APL member through this procedure. The term ‘Respondent’ refers to the APL member about which/whom a complaint is made.

2) When a complaint is received, the APL will check whether the Respondent is a current APL member. If the Respondent has never been an APL member, the APL will not be able to take up the complaint. The APL may however advise the Complainant to either contact their local Trading Standards office or Citizen Advice service for further help; www.citizensadvice.org.uk If the Respondent is no longer an APL member, or is an APL member but the complaint relates to a time when the Respondent was not a member of the APL, the same action will apply.

3) If for any reason the Respondent is not an APL member but is using any of its associated logos (i.e. APL, HTA or TrustMark), the APL will send a letter and email to the Respondent instructing them to remove all references immediately. If the Respondent does not comply within the deadline set (usually 30 days), the APL will inform the local Trading Standards office, and TrustMark directly and reserves the right to take legal action.

4) If the Respondent is an APL member and the works have been completed during their membership, the APL will establish what communication, if any, has taken place between both parties to try and resolve the complaint. If no communication has taken place, where possible the APL will ask the Complainant to attempt to resolve the issue(s) with the Respondent either verbally with written confirmation, or in writing (by hand or email). We ask that Complainants make contact with a Respondent within seven working days of being asked to do so by the APL to try and resolve matters.

4.1) In parallel, the APL will contact the Respondent to notify them that a complaint has been raised, and by whom, through this procedure. The APL will recommend they contact the Complainant to try to resolve the issues.

4.2) If there is no response to the Complainant from the Respondent within 7 working days, the APL will contact the Respondent and advise them that the Complaints Resolution Procedure will be initiated to try to resolve the complaint.

4.3) It is important that both parties try to engage with each other at this early stage to resolve the issues between them. If the Complainant refuses to attempt to engage directly with the Respondent without good reason, alternative actions may be suggested by the APL and the case will be closed. If the Respondent fails to engage directly with the Complainant, this procedure shall continue and the Respondent’s failure to engage with the Client may be taken into account in any subsequent Disciplinary procedures against the Respondent.

5) If the issues cannot be resolved directly between the parties, the APL will send the Complainant a Complaints Initiation Form (CIF) to detail their complaint. The form and any relevant supporting information i.e. contract documentation, email communications, photographic evidence etc., must be returned to the APL by post or electronically within 7 working days.

6) On receipt of a completed CIF, the case shall then be classed as an Official Complaint against the APL member. A Complaint Response Form (CRF) is then sent to the Respondent to reply within 7 working days.

7) At this point, the APL will create a case on the Respondent’s electronic membership record so that all the correspondence details are logged and recorded on the APL’s records.

8) If the APL member does not respond to communication from the APL in connection with the case, or otherwise fails without good reason to engage with the Complaints Resolution Procedure, the APL’s Disciplinary Procedure will be initiated against the Respondent.

9) On receipt of the completed CRF from the Respondent, the APL will forward both the CIF and the CRF to the APL Complaints Panel1. If necessary, the CIF and CRF may also be sent to other APL Committee Members (dependent on the complaint and technical issues), Horticultural Trades Association (HTA) employees, or solicitors. The Panel will then undertake a desktop review of the complaint and all supporting information provided by the Complainant and Respondent.

10) At the sole discretion of the HTA, an employee of the HTA may contact either party to obtain extra information, images or video to clarify points in the complaint, or ask to visit the site; any site visit will be non-invasive. Any request by the APL for such a visit would be for extra information gathering and should be responded to in as timely a manner as possible so the complaints panel can deliver their response.

10.1) It should be noted that no site visit undertaken as part of this Complaints Resolution Procedure shall be compliant to CPR Part 35; no such service is offered by the APL. Should such a visit be required, the APL will sign post the Complainant or Respondent to appropriate organisations that can supply this service.

10.2) Should either party commission an independent site visit compliant with CPR Part 35, the APL will immediately close the case in the Complaints Resolution Procedure.

10.3) Should an independent site visit compliant with CPR Part 35 be commissioned by either party, the APL would request that results and findings of the visit be shared with the APL. The APL would reserve the right to initiate its Disciplinary Procedure against the Respondent should the findings of the visit indicate that the APL’s rules have been breached.

11) Following the Complaint Panel’s review of the case, a report will be drawn up within 7 working days and made available to both parties simultaneously. Where possible, this report will contain suggestions for ways of resolving the complaint, but will not take a view of assigning culpability or responsibility for an issue on either the Complainant or Respondent. No suggestion made in the report for resolving the complaint shall be binding on either party; the APL has no legal jurisdiction or right to enforce suggestions on either party.

12) After the report has been made available to both parties, the APL’s Complaints Resolution Procedure and the APL’s involvement in the case is concluded; the case will be closed at this point. Should the Complainant and Respondent not be able to agree a resolution based on this Procedure, the APL can direct the parties to Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR).

Important notes on the Complaints Resolution Procedure

By engaging in the Complaints Resolution Procedure, Complainants and Respondents acknowledge and accept the following:

1. The APL will not facilitate or otherwise be party to any financial or other negotiations on behalf of either the Complainant or Respondent.
2. If at any stage during this process either party takes legal action against the other, the APL will immediately close the case. However, dependent on the final outcome of any legal proceedings, the APL reserves the right to initiate its Disciplinary Procedure against the Respondent based on the outcome of those proceedings.
3. The report and any of the Complaints Panel for resolving the complaint are advisory and offered strictly as part of a facilitation process. Both parties should be aware that the report of the Complaints Panel could be used by the other party if the complaint were taken to court. The contents of the report of the Complaints Panel are opinions and suggestions made in good faith, and are not negotiable
4. To the extent permitted by law, neither the APL, nor members of the Complaints Panel, nor the HTA will be liable by reason of breach of contract, negligence or otherwise for any loss or consequential loss (including loss of anticipated profits, damage to reputation or goodwill, loss of expected future business, damages, costs or expenses payable to any third party or other indirect losses) occasioned by either party acting, omitting to act, or refraining from acting in reliance on any suggestions made in the report, or otherwise engaging in the Complaints Resolution Procedure.
5. It should be noted that if it is identified that works or conduct within the complaint point to the Respondent failing to meet the requirements of APL membership set out in the APL Constitution and scheme rules, and if the Respondent fails to correct this, then the APL’s Disciplinary procedure shall be initiated against the Respondent. This could result in sanctions being imposed on the Respondent up to and including expulsion from the APL
6. All complaints (whatever the outcome) remain an APL member’s file for 12 month period. The record of the complaint is also archived for a further two years to ensure a pattern of complaints are not being formed. Records of complaints may be used to inform disciplinary procedures against a member.
7. There are no rights to appeal the panel’s recommendations or contents of its report; any findings or suggestions made by the Complaints Panel are suggestions based on the evidence provided and made in good faith. However, any APL member who feels that their case has not been dealt with fairly or correctly has the right to raise a formal complaint via the HTA complaints process, which can be found on the HTA’s web site: hta.org.uk/about-us/complaints-policy