Our in-house Complaints Procedure
We are committed to providing a professional service to all our clients and customers. When something goes wrong, we need you to tell us about it. This will help us to improve our standards.
We will where appropriate, make reasonable adjustments for consumers who might be disadvantaged because of factors such as their age, infirmity, disability, lack of knowledge, lack of linguistic or numeracy ability, economic circumstances, bereavement or do not speak English as a first language.
If you have a complaint, we ask to please contact at the initial stages any of the following people:
Greg Carter (Dorchester, Preston, Bridport, Shaftesbury, Beaminster, Blandford and Swanage Offices); Alison Owens, (Wareham Office) or Alexandra Holland (Lettings). The Director in overall responsibility is: Polly Greenway – 01305 757 300 or 0786 355 7591.
If you have a complaint, please put it in writing, including as much detail as possible. We will then respond in line with the time-frames set out below (if you feel we have not sought to address your complaints within eight weeks, you may be able to refer your complaint to the Property Ombudsman to consider without our final viewpoint on the matter).
What will happen next?
- We will send you a written acknowledgement of the receipt of your complaint within three working days of receiving it, enclosing a copy of this procedure.
- We will then investigate your complaint. This will normally be dealt with by the office manager who will review your file and speak to the member of staff who dealt with you. A formal written outcome of our investigation will be sent to you within 15 working days of receipt of the original complaint.
- If, at this stage, you are still not satisfied, you should contact us again and we will arrange for a separate review to take place by a senior member of staff.
- We will write to you within 15 working days of receiving your request for a review, confirming our final viewpoint on the matter.
- If you are still not satisfied with our final viewpoint (or more than 8 weeks has elapsed since the complaint was first made) you can request an independent review from The Property Ombudsman or ARLA Propertymark without charge.
Further Resolve...
DOMVS is a member of both ARLA Propertymark, the leading membership body for estate and letting agents, which ensures we have the most up-to-date legislative knowledge and practical experience, and The Property Ombudsman Scheme (TPOS), a free, impartial and independent body that resolves disputes between consumers and estate & letting agents. Both bodies have a strict code of conduct, for which the DOMVS team must comply as part of its membership.
If you feel we have fallen short and not resolved your complaint, you will be signposted to either of the above – usually The Property Ombudsman for sales and ARLA Propertymark for lettings.
You will need to submit your complaint to The Property Ombudsman within 12 months from the date of our final viewpoint, including any evidence to support your case. The Property Ombudsman requires that all complaints are addressed through DOMVS’ in-house complaints procedure before being submitted for an independent review.
ARLA Propertymark investigates complaints against their members where there is evidence an agent has breached their Conduct and Membership Rules. Examples of this include but are not limited to, misuse of client money, failure to uphold high standards of ethical and professional practice, and failure to answer correspondence.
