Grounds maintenance
Negative customer feedback on grounds maintenance has led to a major change in how we run this service. Since 2 May 2023, we now have four contract areas and a tree contract instead of one contractor covering everything. This has made each area more manageable and opened up the work to smaller businesses with a more local approach. We are monitoring progress closely with the help of our Green Team. If you'd like to get involved, please register here.
More notice of repairs appointments
We used to send you confirmation of your repairs appointment when you booked the work, with a reminder 24 hours before we were due to attend. Customer feedback told us that it would be helpful to have more notice on the reminder, in case you'd forgotten and needed to rearrange other things. We now send two reminders - one three days before and one 24 hours before the appointment.
Be more visible
Customer surveys showed that you were keen to see more of Saxon Weald staff out and about in your neighbourhoods. In response, we planned a series of roadshows, visiting different areas to offer advice and give practical support, all complemented with free refreshments and competitions. Last year we visited 19 different locations and we are now in the process of planning community days for 2024.
Retirement housing review
We asked customers living in retirement housing to give us their views on our management service. This took the form of a survey followed by meetings at each scheme. Some of the outcomes included:
A charter being developed for each scheme giving residents information on the service levels they can expect, for example, how often cleaning is done.
Ensuring scheme managers are at their schemes as much as possible.
Establishing a regular programme of scheme meetings.
Changing the way we calculate service charges to make it fairer for those living in properties connected to the scheme as opposed to being in the main scheme building.
Task and Finish
In December 2023 our second Task and Finish group began. This time around the group is scrutinising the communication aspect of our complaints process.
The group, which consists of 7-9 customers, have been attending a meeting every 3 weeks. We have also offered a hybrid meeting which is working well, with some customers joining us online from the comfort of their own home.
You can find out more about Task and Finish and getting involved here.
