Policies

Complaints Policy

This Policy

This policy explains how, you, the customer can raise a complaint as well as how we will handle the complaint.

Providing the best quality customer service is at the heart of our business. However, we do understand that we do not always get it right, and so it is important to us that you can bring complaints to us and they can be dealt with appropriately.

How to Make a Complaint

If you would like to make a complaint, you can do so by emailing the manager at the following email address: hello@theuglyducklingpottery.co.uk

Information

In your email, please include the following information:

• Your name
• Your contact details
• The fact that you are raising a complaint
• Any relevant dates and times that relate to your complaint
• The type of services we provided to you (such as a birthday party/to go box/regular painting session)
• Photos if the issue relates to your pottery
• A summary of the problem or problems you have experienced and why the services were not satisfactory

What to Expect

Complaints will be looked at and dealt with during our business hours which are:

Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday: 10:00-17:30

Wednesday and Friday: 10:00-21:30

Sunday: 10:00-16:30

Acknowledgement 

Complaints will be dealt with by our manager. In the instance that the manager receives your complaint and it is not appropriate for them to deal with it, it will be forwarded on and dealt with by the business owner.

Please note that whilst we aim to acknowledge your complaint within 48 hours of receiving it, there may be occasions where the time frame is slightly longer in the instance of staff holiday or sickness.

Investigation

Our manager will then conduct a thorough investigation into your complaint. Please be understanding that they may need to contact you in order to obtain more information in order to carry out their investigation.

Response

A response to your complaint will be made to you according to the contact details that you have provided us with. 

A response will, in most cases, be with you within 14 days of your complaint being made. If further investigation is required or there is a delay due to staff sickness or staff holiday, a revised time frame will be provided to you.

Our manager may agree with part or all of your complaint. If this is the case, we will aim to offer a satisfactory resolution to the complaint, which may include the following:

• A partial or full refund of what you paid
• A gift card to spend at The Ugly Duckling Pottery
• A membership/discount card for future purchases at The Ugly Duckling Pottery
• A free repeat of the service (ex. A free pottery painting session)

We will offer the solution that we believe is the most appropriate in the circumstances. The above are examples of what we would usually offer, although there may be exceptional circumstances where those are not appropriate and we offer something else.

If our manager does not agree with your grounds of complaint, the complaint will be raised with our business owner. If the business owner also does not agree with your grounds of complaint, you may raise your complaint externally, using the information below.

Legal Claims

We always wish to resolve any complaints at the lowest possible level. However, if none of the above resolve the complaint for you, you may wish to obtain legal advice.

We work with Eurolaw Commercial Legal on telephone number 0345 878 5024 for legal issues affecting our business.

Information about your legal rights as a consumer can be found on the Citizens Advice Bureau website.

Tips Policy

If you wish to leave our team a tip following your experience at The Ugly Duckling, the team would be very grateful for your gratitude. 

As a company, we would like to assure you that we work to ensure that tips are distributed amongst the staff fairly. Tips are distributed in equal divide amongst all staff that worked the shift that you tipped. The only exception is if you tip a particular member of the team for service that they specifically provided to you. In this case, 100% of your tip will go directly to that staff member. A written record is kept at 2-3 Bartholomew St, Newbury, RG14 5LL detailing any tips that have been distributed.

Unfortunately, we can only accept cash tips.