Everyone within EweMove is committed to providing the best possible customer service and results. This is why we offer our no quibble, ‘Happy Customer’ guarantees. But sometimes things do go wrong. They don’t happen or work out the way that you (or we) would hope and expect them to. In these situations, we want to listen to your feedback and understand what has happened, for three reasons.

When we mess up, we want to:

1. Hold our hands up and apologise
2. Put things right for you, if that’s possible and
3. Make sure the same thing cannot happen again to you or anyone else.

How can you complain?

When something has gone wrong, the last thing you want is to be told that you have to “put your complaint in writing, with a formal letter to Mr Anonymous in his Ivory Tower, setting out a comprehensive record of all the facts with supporting evidence.” Policies like these can add insult to injury. They tend to be there to make it as hard as possible for you to complain – in the hope that you’ll just give up and go away. So we don’t ask you to do this, and have a very different policy and process that removes the burden from you and we hope will help you get a more personal and speedy response as well as resolution to your concerns. And of course, if putting your feelings down in writing and sending a letter is your preferred approach, then that’s fine too.

Step 1 – Speak to your local EweMove branch director

Your local EweMove branch director is by far the best person to help in the first instance, whether it is them that you have already been dealing with, or a member of their team. EweMove operates as a network of independent business owners, each licenced to operate under the EweMove brand and system. As a business owner who has made a significant investment in their business and is totally dependent upon it’s on going success for their livelihood, your local branch director will care passionately about the service they and their team provide, and their local reputation. So if something has gone wrong, they will want to listen; understand; take on board your feedback; do whatever they can to put things right; and learn any lessons there may be to be learned from the situation.

Whether your complaint is about the branch director themselves, or a member of their team, please do not be afraid to tell them. They will welcome your feedback and will want to hear your story. They will not ask you to put your complaint in writing. But of course, you are welcome to do so, if that is how you prefer to work. The EweMove way is not to shy away from difficult conversations. In many cases unless you prefer not to, your local branch director will arrange to meet with you in person so they can hear and respond to your feedback face to face. They will also write to you (within no more than 14 days of your call advising them that you wish to formally complain), summarising their understanding of what has happened and gone wrong; providing you with their response; and summarising what actions they will be taking as a result of your feedback.

We hope that this will bring the matter to a close for you. But if having received their written response, you remain dissatisfied with the outcome, then we would invite you to move on to Step 2 of our process.

Step 2 – Give our National Customer Service Manager a call

Once your local EweMove branch director has responded to your complaint, your next step should in theory be to escalate your complaint in writing to the Property Ombudsman. This is because your relationship is with the independently owned EweMove business – and each local EweMove business has to be a member of the Property Ombudsman in it’s own right.

However, your local EweMove branch director operates their business under licence from EweMove Sales and Lettings Limited. This means that they have to operate in line with our required service standards. If they fail to do so, then ultimately they could lose their right to trade under the EweMove brand and system, and would have to wind up their business.

So before escalating to the Ombudsman, we would like the opportunity to help from a Head Office perspective. By doing so, we can hopefully remove the need for you to spend time and effort putting everything in writing to the ombudsman.

Call Deborah Lofthouse on 01274 888 758

If you prefer to put something in writing at this stage, then you can of course do so. Deborah’s contact details are as follows:

[email protected]

Deborah Lofthouse, National Customer Service Manager
EweMove Sales & Lettings
Cavendish House,
Littlewood Drive
Cleckheaton
BD19 4TE

Deborah should already be aware of your situation before you get in touch, as your local branch director will have sent her a copy of their written response to you from Step 1 of this process. Deborah will listen to your situation and concerns, so that she can understand exactly what has happened, and which aspects of your Branch Director’s written response you remain unhappy with. She will then feed this back to your local branch director, and will ask them to contact and write to you again within 14 days to address your remaining concerns. Deborah will also confirm all of the above in writing to you, within 7 days of your telephone call.

By the time your local Branch Director has responded further with input and support from Deborah, we really do hope that this will bring the matter to a close for you. But if that’s not the case, then the final stage is for you to formally escalate your complaint for official adjudication by the Property Ombudsman.

Step 3 – The Property Ombudsman

Unfortunately, sometimes despite our very best efforts, we may not be able resolve your complaint to your total satisfaction, and you will feel the need to escalate to the Property Ombudsman for formal independent adjudication. In such situations, the ombudsman requires you to complete their official complaints form and send this to them with a covering letter, including full details of your complaint along with supporting documentation and copies of your local EweMove branch director’s written response(s).

You can obtain a copy of the TPO complaints form here

The address to which your complaint should be sent is:

The Property Ombudsman
43-55 Milford Street
Salisbury
Wiltshire
SP1 2BP

Alternatively, you can send a scanned copy of the relevant documents to: [email protected]

In order for the ombudsman to consider your complaint, they must receive it within 12 months of the date of your EweMove Branch Directors final written response. The ombudsman will send you confirmation that they have received your letter within 15 days of receipt. They will then share your submission with your EweMove branch director and ask them to provide a copy of their file, along with their detailed responses regarding all the points you have raised. Their final adjudication will be sent to you in writing once they have considered all the evidence.

You can find more information about the Property Ombudsman scheme and how they will deal with your complaint on their website at this address: https://www.tpos.co.uk/consume...