Contact

Complaints & Procedure

Waterhouse Funeral Directors & Heathfield Funeral Directors

Trading Division of West and Coe Limited

Our Commitment to You

Doing the right thing every time is important to us. If you ever feel we haven’t met your expectations, we encourage you to let us know and we’ll do our best to put things right.

We’d recommend you contact the office that’s been supporting you and let them know that something wasn’t right. If you feel your feedback needs to be looked at by someone else, you can get in touch with our Management Team at our Burwash Office.

Three Ways to Reach Our Senior Management Team

Choose the contact method that’s right for you:

By phone: 01435 882 219

By email: jamie.west@westcoe.co.uk

In writing: Management Team, Waterhouse Funeral Directors & Heathfield Funeral Directors: Mabel’s Cottage, High Street, Burwash TN19 7ET

What Happens Next?

We aim to solve problems straight away, but more complex matters may take a little longer. If we need to look into things and we can’t resolve your complaint immediately, we’ll note your contact details, investigate your feedback and let you know when you can expect to hear from us again.

The Steps We’ll Take

  • We’ll log the complaint so that there’s a record of it.
  • We’ll acknowledge it in writing within 72 hours of receiving your feedback.
  • We’ll investigate to fully understand what’s happened and we’ll speak with the right people.
  • We may need to ask you further questions to get more detail and find a solution, and we’ll either call you or email you if we need to.
  • We’ll do all we can to resolve your concerns and we’ll ask you if you agree with our findings. We’ll also let you know what happens next.
  • If it takes us longer than 28 days to resolve things, we’ll write to you and let you know how our investigation is moving forward.
  • You should expect us to resolve more complex complaints within 56 days of receiving them. If there’s any change to this timeline, we’ll let you know so that you’re informed of progress.
  • We’ll usually provide you with a final written response within 56 days of acknowledging your complaint.
  • If our response hasn’t resolved things for you, please let us know, as we want to do the right thing by you every time.

If You’re Still Not Happy With Us

If you’re not happy with how we’ve looked after your complaint, you can contact:

Internal Escalation: Senior Management Team at our parent company, West & Coe Limited. Contact the Operations Director, Jamie West:

External Escalation: The National Society of Allied and Independent Funeral Directors (SAIF). As proud independent members, we are bound by SAIF’s Code of Practice. If an internal resolution cannot be reached, you can escalate your dispute to their independent arbitration body, the Independent Funeral Directors Dispute Resolution Scheme (IFDDRS).

The National Society of Allied and Independent Funeral Directors (SAIF)

SAIF was established in 1989 to support independent, mostly family-owned funeral directors. They provide a free, independent service that looks into disputes between member funeral providers and their clients. Waterhouse & Heathfield Funeral Directors, as a trading division of West and Coe Limited, holds full membership with SAIF. We are bound by the outcome that the independent scheme decides.

Further details of this process and the application procedure are available on the SAIF website:

  • Website: www.saif.org.uk
  • Address: SAIF Business Centre, 3 Bullfields, Sawbridgeworth, Herts, CM21 9DB
  • Telephone: 0345 230 6777
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