What is Complaint?

Many companies still regard customers complaints as unpleasant and as a waste of time and money
They install barriers to the customer’s decision to complain and some (frontline) employees even make their customers believe that they would not have the right to complain at all.

Customer Complaints are indicators that something is not working as it should.

Complaints reflect “real life” situations to the customers, and should not be neglected or ignored.

The way a company manages complaints is a reflection of the quality of its product or services, and of its desire to retain and satisfy its customers

As desirable as complaints can be, they are a crucial communication tool between the buyer and the seller.

Complaints offer businesses an opportunity to correct immediate problems.

Complaints and complaint trends tell business how to do its job better by alerting management to problems that need prompt attention and correction.

They indicate long range opportunities for product innovation and problem prevention.

They frequently provide constructive ideas for improving products, adapting marketing practices, upgrading services, or modifying promotional material and product information.

Research into complaint behaviour reveals that only a fraction of dissatisfied consumers complains to business and, thereby, gives the company an opportunity to correct the problem.

No business can afford to lose customers, if only because it costs much more to replace a customer than it does to retain one ? five times more, most industry experts agree

Why do people complain? 

Generally speaking most customers “complain” in a effort to get answers.

Research indicates that only a small portion of dissatisfied customers register complaints.
This is due in part to the perception that companies are unwilling or unable to make the corrections or resolve the problem.

When customers believe they have not received their money’s worth, consumers give businesses an opportunity to correct the immediate problem and restore goodwill.

Experience show that consumers who complain about products and services continue to frequent the businesses and buy the products they complain about if they believe the complaint was resolved fairly.

There is evidence that some consumers do not complain because they are skeptical about business’s willingness or ability to resolve disputes fairly. Consumers simply withdraw their patronage and criticize the company or the product to others. Such findings underscore the importance to business of a complaint management system that is well-publicized and easily accessible.

According to Tax and Brown (1998: 76), only 5-10% of dissatisfied customers decide to complain to the company and most of them “are dissatisfied with the way companies resolve their complaints” and “have more negative feelings about an organization after they go through he service-recovery process”.

Complaint Consequences

If a response to a complaint is timely and accurately addresses the concern, the issue can be resolved before it develops into a more serious action: namely, a product liability claim or lawsuit.

All complaints do not result in legal action.

To ignore the danger signals that “complaints” represent can subject a company’s profits to an undue exposure to loss.

The complaint that goes unreported can be as costly as the one that is mismanaged or unresolved.

Negative word-of-mouth publicity from dissatisfied consumers means lost revenue & market share and necessitates additional investment in advertising to attract replacement customers.

In addition to lost revenue, this will usually also result in additional advertising cost to attract mew customers, or revision of current publications to correct misconceptions

Dissatisfied customers almost always get stuck with certain costs: the money they spend for phone calls, the time they spend making their cases, and the aggravation they must endure throughout.

Dissatisfied customers will switch to competitors if alternatives are available and if the company does not apply a number of mechanisms to prevent customers from switching

Customer engage in negative word-of-mouth communication to warn friends and relative (Blodgett et al. 1995)
On average one dissatisfied customer will tell 11 others who on average will tell five others. That's 55 pieces of negative advertising from one disgruntled customer. (Business Centre's Information Resource Centre)

Benefit of complaint 

A good recovery can turn angry frustrated customers into loyal ones.
Companies can learn to recover from mistakes.

Complaints offer many opportunities:

• Corrective of immediate problems

• Constructive ideas to improve products

• Adapting marketing practices

• Improving services

• Modifying promotional material and product information

• Save business unwanted costs

What should we do with the complaint?

Companies should try to prevent these negative consequences and the high costs of acquiring new customers by strengthening the endangered relationship with the customer.

Exposure of loss can be reduced and controlled with proper attention to complaint management.

Proponents of third-party systems point out that their use can help make manufacturers and retailers more responsive to consumer problems. Eg. www.Consumer.Com.My