How To Get A Satisfactory Outcome To A Complaint

Having worked in Call/Contact Centres for almost 14 years, one of the most common questions I get asked by friends and family is "What's the best way to get a complaint resolved?". Now, for a lot of people the answer is very simple - you simply pick up the phone or find an email/postal address and let it rip. Whilst this may work in some scenarios, the effect it has on both you as a customer and the consultant you speak to, can be fairly damaging. So, based on my experience within this type of industry and my experience in resolving customer complaints, I'm going to provide you with some handy tips to help ensure you get most, if not all, of your complaints handled efficiently and effectively should the need arise every time.

Number 1 - Try and Remain Calm

If you find yourself in a position where you need to complain about something, chances are something has gone wrong and you're likely very upset, frustrated or angry about the situation. Now as much these feelings are valid, allowing this to show through when speaking to a consultant can impede their ability to help you. It is hard to remain calm when something has angered you, but doing so helps ensure a swifter resolution. There can also be a thin line between general annoyance and what could be classed as abusive behaviour.

Contact centre staff do tend to have a higher level of understanding when it comes to frustrating situations as they can deal with them a lot, but even still most centres do have an anti abuse policy whereby the consultant can terminate the call after several warnings or immediately depending on how the call goes. If this happens, it's only going to exacerbate the situation and prolong the length of time it takes you to get a resolution.

Number 2 - Tell The Consultant How to Resolve the Situation For You

This may seem a bit counter productive, as most people I say this to usually reply with "but that's not my job", and whilst it is technically correct, there is a very good reason for this tip and it's not advising you to start telling consultants how to do the job. It's so the consultant knows how to resolve this specific situation for you as an individual. Whilst lots customers may have similar complaints, the individual is not always effected the same.

There will be many times, depending on the specific circumstances, where simply resolving the issue is not enough. It may have been something which has caused you undue stress, cost you time or even a financial loss, but this is not always immediately obvious. In most cases, a consultants main priority will be to address and fix the actual issue, but if there's more to it, sometimes you need to tell them.

When I used to handle complaints, if it was fairly complex or the customer remained unhappy even after resolving the initial issue, I used to outright ask how can we resolve the issue specifically for you. So tell them, but be reasonable. Don't demand £100 because you didn't receive a letter or ask for compensation because you had to wait on hold for slightly longer than usual, but if you have suffered a genuine loss, tell them so they can factor it in to any resolution they give.

Number 3 - Research the Company's Complaint Process Beforehand

If you need to make a complaint, visit the company's website for information on their complaints process or ask about it. Every company has a process freely available to anyone looking for it and it helps set your expectations before or during contact.

Depending on the complexity of your complaint, it may take a day or two to fully investigate, it may take longer or it may need to be handled by a specific department so researching beforehand allows you to get an idea of who may handle your complaint and also the time it may take to investigate it.

It should also advise you who can escalate the issue to should you remain unsatisfied with any resolution given or timescales provided have passed.

Number 4 - Don't Immediately Ask for A Manager or Senior Person

This happens all the time in contact centres. A customer has a complaint and immediately asks to speak to a manager or someone higher than the consultant immediately. Whilst it is understandable, it is almost always guaranteed to cause a delay rather than resolve the issue quicker.

Consultants on the front line usually have the best knowledge on how to resolve an issue because they are the ones who speak to customers every single day. If you have a complaint, chances are they have dealt with it before or something similar and they know who to go to for help. If a manager is needed for any reason, they will get one, but speaking to one straight away very rarely results in a quicker resolution. If the agent has exhausted every avenue available to them and you remain unsatisfied, absolutely ask to speak to a manager, but always give the consultant the chance to look into it for you first.

On a side note, it's worth noting managers are not supreme beings with infinite resource and power. Like the consultant, they too are bound by the policies and processes of the company, and are unable to bend them at will, so don't be disappointed if they too are still unable to fully resolve the situation for you.

Number 5 - Take Notes of Contact

Take notes of dates and times you've spoken to people from the company. Get a name if you can (most agents will provide at least a first name, they don't always have to provide their surname) or an ID, something that identifies them as an individual. If you have letters or emails, keep them so they can be provided if necessary.

I don't know any call centres who don't record calls, but it is technology and sometimes technology can sadly fail. It's not something I've come across often, but it can happen where a specific call or email cannot be traced easily, so the more information you can provide, the easier it is to find it. Being cooperative can make a world of difference when trying to resolve an issue.

It's worth noting that the above is merely a guide to use when you find yourself in a complaint situation. Sadly there's no one size fits all approach to dealing with complaints, as it can all depend on the complexity of it, but the above can be applied to the vast majority of complaints and by following this you at least stand a good chance of having your issues resolved in a timely and effective manner without causing more undue stress to yourself.

I sincerely hope this helps people, but if anyone reads this and has questions around some of the information or would even like some general advice about a complaint they have, please feel free to reach out.