CUSTOMER CARE POLICY

Our Customer Care Policy

The Horniman Museum and Gardens is a centre of excellence, and our aim is to provide a world class service to our visitors and stakeholders, that encourages "a wider appreciation of the World, its people and their cultures and its environments".

We are dedicated to providing exhibitions and activities that inspire and educate our visitors, and provide enjoyment for all.

We conserve, interpret, and make our collections available in a safe and secure environment, and our staff are dedicated to the provision of a high quality, customer focussed, and friendly service to all our users.

Our staff are committed to promoting the visions and values of our organisation, and to delivering the standards contained in this policy.

Our Customer Commitment

Access for all to knowledge, education, and activities

Entrance to the Museum and Gardens is free. We do occasionally charge an entrance fee for temporary exhibitions, and charges and concessionary rates are clearly displayed when this occurs. All our galleries and facilities are accessible to all our visitors. The Museum is committed to documenting its collections in order to ensure that information about the collections is accessible and that its responsibilities to donors, researchers and lenders are fulfilled.

Investing in people and developing potential

The Horniman Museum is committed to providing an environment in which staff are encouraged, through training and development, to be effective and motivated to give of their best.

Demonstrating excellence

We strive for excellence in all that we do and communicate this to our visitors. We will continue to strive to meet the high standards demanded of the awarding bodies of Investors In People, and Green Flag, as well as meeting PIs set out in our Funding Agreement with the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.

Innovation and improvement

We are committed to delivering new, well presented, and relevant exhibitions and events to our audience, and will encourage our staff to be innovative in their approach and judgement of audience expectation. Our support services are regularly monitored, and improved in response to feedback and complaints.

Working through partnerships

We are committed to working in partnership with other museums, organisations and stakeholders to achieve our objectives, demonstrate the wealth in our collection, and contribute to a nationwide appreciation of our heritage.

Working with local communities in London

We will develop and nourish partnerships within, and beyond, our local community that are beneficial to our audiences. We are committed to providing exhibitions, events and activities that celebrate our diverse communities.

Equal Opportunities

We will strive to ensure equal, inclusive, and courteous treatment of all our visitors and staff, and foster a positive approach to Equal Opportunity across our organisation. We will identify barriers to participation and learning, and work with our staff, our visitors, our community, and our supporters, to remove them.

Our Promise to You

Our standards of service are designed to support the aims and objectives of the Horniman Museum in pursuit of its purpose to encourage "a wider appreciation of the world, its peoples and their cultures, and its environments".

We pursue a reputation of excellence for our exhibitions, facilities and services and ensure that they are accessible to all our visitors, both physically and intellectually. We consult with our visitors about our services, and listen to what they have to say.

We operate a simple and effective complaints procedure, designed to resolve problems, prevent them recurring, and improve our services. Complaints will be given a high priority for investigation and will receive a written response.

We publicise and market our exhibitions and facilities to the widest possible audience.

We will provide accurate information, and promotional material about our exhibitions, activities, events, and facilities.

We provide clearly displayed information signage regarding access to the museum, gardens and nature trail, ticketing charges, special events, gallery closures and equipment failure.

Our staff offer high standards of courtesy, helpfulness and knowledge, are identifiable to our visitors, and will deal efficiently and courteously with all enquiries.

We encourage comments and feedback from all our users and visitors, and provide comments cards for this purpose, which are located at our Information and Reception Desks, and in our galleries.

We will monitor our standards of service through evaluation of visitor comments and complaints, and regular visitor surveys.

Telephone calls will be answered within six rings or where possible, be received by an accurate voicemail message.

All general enquiries to the Museum by email, letter and telephone will be responded to within five working days.

We will publish through the web, and on site, clearly displayed information.