Complaints Policy

We would rather hear it from you

Our reputation, 2,800+ Google reviews at 4.9 stars, is built on doing the job properly and treating people well. When we get something wrong, we want to know, we want to fix it, and we want to learn from it. Every complaint is reviewed personally by our Director each week; one complaint is information, three with the same theme is a system problem we fix.

This policy explains how to raise a concern, what we will do, and where you can go if you are not satisfied with our response.

What you can complain about

Anything connected with our service: the quality of the work, a delay or missed appointment, pricing or an invoice, a warranty decision, the conduct of a team member, damage to your property, a vehicle or driving matter, how your personal information was handled, or how an earlier complaint was managed.

How to raise a complaint

On the day: tell the plumber on site. Our team are trained to listen, acknowledge the issue and call their Field Manager or the Director from site before things escalate. They are not permitted to argue, to settle a complaint privately, or to promise something they cannot authorise.

After the job:

• Phone:(02) 9388 7292, ask for the Office Manager or Director
• Email:admin@proximityplumbing.com.au
• Post: The Director, Proximity Plumbing, 229 Bronte Road, Waverley NSW 2024
• Website: proximityplumbing.com.au/complaints/ (form)

It helps if you give us the job address, invoice or job number, the date of the work, what happened, and what outcome you are looking for. Photos are welcome. You can nominate someone to deal with us on your behalf (a family member, strata manager or advocate) with your written authority.

Complaints are free to make. You will never be treated less favourably for raising one.

What we will do

If a complaint is complex, for example it involves an insurer, a manufacturer, a strata committee or a third-party trade, we will tell you within the 10 days where things are up to and when you can expect a full response.

Complaints about the Director are handled by the Office Manager with independent input.

Our principles

• Listen first. Most plumbing complaints are about the communication around the plumbing. We will hear you out before we respond.
• Acknowledge honestly. We will tell you plainly where we got it wrong. Where we believe the work or charge was right, we will show you the evidence and explain why.
• Fix it properly. Every job is covered by our Lifetime Labour Warranty. If it is our workmanship, we fix it at our cost.
• Keep it confidential. Complaint details are shared only with the people who need them to resolve the matter.
• Learn from it. Complaints feed directly into our training, procedures and weekly team reviews.

Urgent safety issues

If a job has left an active leak, a gas smell or an unsafe situation, do not wait for the complaints process: call us immediately on 0420 102 394 (24/7). For a gas smell, leave the area and call 000 or Jemena on 131 909.

If you are not satisfied

If you are unhappy with our response, ask for it to be reviewed by the Director. If you remain dissatisfied, you may contact:

• NSW Fair Trading / Building Commission NSW: 13 32 20 · www.fairtrading.nsw.gov.au, for building-work, pricing, warranty and licensing matters, including free dispute-resolution services.
• NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal (NCAT): www.ncat.nsw.gov.au, for home-building claims.
• Office of the Australian Information Commissioner: 1300 363 992 · www.oaic.gov.au, for privacy complaints.
• Australian Human Rights Commission: 1300 656 419, for discrimination or harassment concerns involving our staff.
• SafeWork NSW: 13 10 50, for safety concerns.

Nothing in this policy limits your rights under the Australian Consumer Law or the Home Building Act 1989 (NSW).

Reviews

We ask every customer for honest feedback and never ask anyone to remove or change a review. If you have left a negative review, we would still like the chance to put things right: contact us through any of the channels above.

Record keeping

We record every complaint, our investigation and the outcome on the job file and in our complaints register, and retain those records for at least seven years.