Privacy Policy

Gardeners Ratcliff Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy explains how Gardeners Ratcliff collects, uses, stores and protects personal data of its customers and prospective customers. It applies to all individuals who use or enquire about Gardeners Ratcliff services within our service area, whether as private individuals, businesses or organisations.

Gardeners Ratcliff is committed to handling personal data in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation and all applicable data protection laws. By using our services or providing your personal data to us, you acknowledge that you have read and understood this Privacy Policy.

Scope of this Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy covers the processing of personal data relating to current and former customers, prospective customers who make enquiries about our services, suppliers and business contacts where relevant to the delivery of gardening and related services by Gardeners Ratcliff in our operating area.

This policy applies to data collected in person, by telephone, through online forms, in writing and via any other communication method we may use to provide our services.

Types of Data We Collect

We collect and process only the personal data that is necessary for the purposes set out in this Privacy Policy. The categories of data we may collect include:

Identity and contact details, such as name, postal address, service address, and general contact details necessary to communicate with you.

Service and contract information, such as details of your garden or outdoor space, work requested, site access instructions, job notes, service history and records of communications relating to the services.

Billing and payment information, such as invoice details, billing address and payment status. Where payments are processed via third party payment providers, we do not store full payment card details.

Usage and communication data, such as records of your communications with us, including telephone notes, messages and other correspondence relevant to the services we provide.

Optional feedback information, such as testimonials, satisfaction surveys or reviews that you choose to provide in relation to our services.

Lawful Bases for Processing

Gardeners Ratcliff processes personal data only where we have a valid lawful basis under GDPR. Depending on the context, we may rely on one or more of the following lawful bases:

Contract performance. We process your data where it is necessary to enter into or perform a contract with you, for example to provide gardening services, issue quotations, manage bookings, send invoices and respond to your requests.

Legal obligation. We process certain information to comply with legal and regulatory requirements, such as record keeping, accounting and tax obligations.

Legitimate interests. We may process data where it is necessary for our legitimate business interests and these interests are not overridden by your rights and freedoms. This may include maintaining and improving our services, managing our relationship with you, preventing fraud and protecting our business assets.

Consent. In limited situations we may rely on your consent, for example where you request to receive certain types of optional updates or marketing communications. Where we rely on consent, you can withdraw it at any time.

How We Use Your Personal Data

We use your personal data for the following purposes:

To provide our gardening and related services, including arranging site visits, preparing quotations, carrying out work, and following up on completed jobs.

To manage our relationship with you, including responding to enquiries, handling complaints, and maintaining customer service records.

To administer billing and payments, including issuing invoices, processing payments via our chosen payment processors and managing any queries about charges.

To plan and improve our services, for example by reviewing feedback and service history to enhance our operations and customer experience.

To meet our legal and regulatory obligations, including for accounting, tax and record keeping purposes.

To protect our rights, property and safety and that of our customers and partners, which may include fraud prevention and handling of disputes.

Data Retention

Gardeners Ratcliff retains personal data only for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes for which it was collected, including any legal, accounting or reporting requirements.

Customer records and service information are generally kept for a period that allows us to provide ongoing services, respond to queries about past work and meet our legal obligations. Financial and invoicing information is retained for the period required under applicable tax and accounting laws.

Where we no longer need to process personal data for the purposes described in this Privacy Policy, we will securely delete, anonymise or otherwise remove it from our systems.

Data Processors and Third Parties

We may use carefully selected third party service providers to support our operations and deliver services to you. These providers act as data processors and process personal data on our behalf and under our instructions.

Such processors may include providers of scheduling and job management tools, accounting and invoicing systems, payment processing services, secure data storage and backup services, and communication tools used to manage customer queries.

Where we engage processors, we require them to implement appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your personal data and to process it only in accordance with our instructions and applicable data protection law.

We do not sell your personal data. We will only disclose your personal data to third parties where this is necessary for the purposes described in this Privacy Policy, required by law, or where you have given your consent for a specific disclosure.

International Transfers

Where any of our service providers are located outside the United Kingdom or the European Economic Area, we will ensure that appropriate safeguards are in place to protect your personal data in accordance with applicable data protection laws. These safeguards may include the use of standard contractual clauses or other legally recognised transfer mechanisms.

Data Security

Gardeners Ratcliff takes appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal data against accidental or unlawful destruction, loss, alteration, unauthorised disclosure or access.

Measures may include controlled access to systems, the use of secure storage solutions, restricted access to personal data on a need to know basis, and staff awareness of data protection responsibilities.

While we take reasonable steps to protect personal data, no system can be completely secure. You are responsible for ensuring that any personal data you send to us is transmitted securely and for keeping any reference numbers or documents we provide to you safe.

Your Data Protection Rights

Under GDPR and other applicable data protection laws, you have a number of rights in relation to your personal data processed by Gardeners Ratcliff. These rights include:

Right of access. You can request information about whether we hold personal data about you and, where we do, receive a copy of that data.

Right to rectification. You can ask us to correct or update any inaccurate or incomplete personal data we hold about you.

Right to erasure. In certain circumstances, you can request that we delete your personal data, for example where it is no longer necessary for the purposes for which it was collected and we have no legal obligation to retain it.

Right to restriction of processing. You can ask us to restrict our processing of your personal data in certain situations, such as while we investigate accuracy or objections you have raised.

Right to object. Where we process your personal data based on our legitimate interests, you can object to that processing. We will then assess your objection and stop processing unless we have compelling legitimate grounds to continue or it is required for legal claims.

Right to data portability. Where processing is based on consent or contract and carried out by automated means, you may have the right to receive certain personal data in a structured, commonly used and machine readable format and to request that we transfer it to another controller where technically feasible.

Where we rely on your consent to process personal data, you may withdraw that consent at any time. Withdrawal of consent does not affect the lawfulness of processing carried out before consent was withdrawn.

Children

Our services are not directed to children and we do not knowingly collect personal data relating to children. If you believe that we have inadvertently collected such data, please contact us so that we can delete it where appropriate.

Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in law, our services or our data processing practices. Any updated version will apply to all Gardeners Ratcliff customers and prospective customers in our service area from the date it is made available.