Compliments & Complaints
At Riverstone, we welcome all feedback from our residents and our prospective customers. It’s lovely to hear from you when we get it right but we recognise how important it is to listen to our residents and customers when we don’t and to use all feedback to put things right and to promote continuous improvement in our services.
We understand that some people are nervous about making complaints. We want to assure anyone who is thinking about making a complaint that we will handle complaints appropriately and in a confidential, timely, responsive, accessible and user-friendly way. We also promise that we won’t treat you any differently if you make a complaint about us because this is an important part of our unofficial school report mantra of ‘improving but can still do better’.
Very often, we expect our residents to make suggestions about how our services could change. Again, we very much welcome such input but this may require consultation with a wider group of residents, either face to face or through communication on the Residents’ App. We ask that you allow us the time to do this, but we undertake to keep you fully informed of our progress in this instance.
The Riverstone team will handle complaints in accordance with the following procedure:
1. We will make a note of any complaint made face to face or over the phone. We will treat this as a written complaint once the customer or resident confirms that thenote is accurate.
2. Residents can also write direct to the Riverstone location General Manager to lodge a complaint. If you’re a prospective customer and have visited the Information Suite, you can write to the Sales Manager at the Information Suite.
3. As a resident in one of our Locations, you will also be able to provide feedback via the Riverstone Residents’ App.
4. The General Manager or Sales Manager will acknowledge your complaint within 48 hours of receipt and will provide an initial response to you in writing within 7 calendar days.
5. If you let the General Manager or Sales Manager know that you are not satisfied with our first response, we will escalate the matter to the Chief Experience Officer whowill write to you confirming our final decision as soon as possible and within no later than 7 calendar days of receiving your response, unless Riverstone have previously agreed a later deadline with you.
6. If you do decide to let us know that you are not satisfied with any of our responses, we do not expect you to restate your case or re-explain your reasons but of course you can if you want to.
7. We understand you might prefer to use an intermediary, such as a family member or close friend, to handle the complaint on your behalf. Rest assured, we will cooperate in the same way with them as we would with you.
8. Prior to giving any response, the person carrying out the independent review, be that the General Manager, Sales Manager or Chief Experience Officer, might well suggest a phone call or face to face meeting to discuss the matter. You don’t have to do this but it might help us provide a more informed response.
Contact details for making a complaint: Tel: 020 3479 3766
Postal Address: 66 Buckingham Gate, London, SW1E 6AU
Email: complaints@riverstoneliving.com
If you are not satisfied with our final decision, or we fail to provide it by the relevant deadline, you may refer your complaint to The Property Ombudsman.
The Property Ombudsman require complaints to be submitted on the appropriate form available on their website – www.tpos.co.uk. You should normally contact the Ombudsman within 12 months of receiving our final decision. You can also contact them to discuss a submitted complaint by phone (01722 333306) or by email (admin@tpos.co.uk). Alternatively, you can write to them using the following address:
The Property Ombudsman Milford House 43-55 Milford Street Salisbury Wiltshire SP1 2BP
Complaints under the ARCO Consumer Code
As an ‘ARCO Approved Operator’, we seek at all times to comply with the ARCO Consumer Code (see www.arcouk.org). ARCO itself does not have a complaint handling function but has nominated The Property Ombudsman as its Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) provider. Where we are unable to resolve satisfactorily any complaint from you about compliance with the ARCO Consumer Code, you may also refer this to The Property Ombudsman. Riverstone will co-operate fully with The Property Ombudsman during any investigation and comply fully with the resulting decision, which will be binding on us.
Complaints in relation to Care Services
Any complaints about contracted care services should be referred to your care provider, who will provide you with their own separate procedure. If your care provider is unable to resolve the complaint satisfactorily, you may refer it to the Local Government & Social Care Ombudsman.
Complaints in relation to Rents and Leasehold Management
Certain complaints in relation to rents and leasehold management may also be referred to the Residential Property First-tier Tribunal. We will provide you with contact details for the relevant office where your complaint appears to fall within the remit of the Tribunal.