In the customer service industry, it is inevitable that you will receive a complaint about your business at some point. This may be in person, over the phone, or in writing.
Complaint handling is an opportunity to turn around a customer’s perception of your business and to evolve your policy and procedures to avoid a repeat of the complaint in the future. However, if you do not follow an appropriate procedure, these complaints can escalate and be shared with the wider public via social media, the media, or word-of-mouth — impacting your relationship with existing and prospective customers.
We recommend to clearly document your complaint handling policy. All staff should be trained on the policy and understand everyone’s roles and responsibilities when a complaint occurs. This will ensure your staff are responding appropriately and that complaints are handled correctly.
Complaints handling via the Help Desk
If a complaint regarding your Refund Point is made to the Help Desk, your Contract Manager or another WARRRL staff member will contact you for a response or information.
Refund Point Operators will then have five business days to investigate the complaint internally and respond to WARRRL. WARRRL may require additional information from you, depending on the customer’s satisfaction.
Your team should also direct customers to contact the Help Desk if a customer has a scheme-related query that you are unable to answer or if the customer would like to lodge a complaint about:
- A late payment via electronic funds transfer (EFT) if you know the containers have been processed.
- The scheme in general.
- Beverage costs associated with the scheme.
- The Containers for Change website.
Please direct these customers to call 13 42 42 or email [email protected]
Example of a complaint handling process at your Refund point
Follows is an example of a complaint handling process.
1. Recognise the complaint
While customers may not specifically state, “I would like to lodge a complaint”, there are a few ways to recognise when they are making one:
- Their tone of voice, verbal and body language — if it is negative, it is most likely a complaint.
- They are expressing dissatisfaction about your business, staff, or processes.
- They are asking a negative question that requires investigation or an explanation from you.
- They compare your RP to other positive experiences they’ve had at other sites.
2. Escalate to a manager/supervisor
A complaint should always be escalated to the manager or the on-site supervisor.
This not only makes the customer feel like you are taking their concerns seriously, but also allows the senior member of staff to make the decision regarding the complaint.
3. Handle the complaint
Anyone who receives the complaint should follow those steps:
- Listen to the customer. They may make valid points and it is important they feel you are listening to their concerns.
- Keep calm.
- Remain professional.
- Keep your voice steady — don’t raise it.
- Apologise when necessary.
- Try not to speak over the customer. This could escalate their behaviour,
- Never take it personally.
- Assume all customers are watching. This will help you to handle the customer appropriately.
If you are writing back to the customer, you should:
- Be professional and polite.
- Apologise where necessary.
- Make sure you do not sound defensive.
- Proof your writing.
- Ensure you have addressed every concern they have outlined.
- Provide a resolution or outcome.
Your manner when handling the complaint could make or break your relationship with the customer.
If you handle a complaint well, it can lead to positive feedback, better customer relationships and an improved business reputation. However, if a complaint is poorly handled, it can lead to negative feedback and a loss of customers.
4. Record the complaint
You should always record the complaint, whether a resolution is reached or if more investigation is required.
You may choose to have a dedicated platform or use a spreadsheet to keep this record.
Your records should at least capture:
- The customer’s details including member number (scheme ID), name, phone number, and email address.
- When the complaint was made (date and time).
- How the complaint was made (E.G., email, letter, call, or in person).
- Where the complaint was made.
This is important for RPOs who have multiple RPs and are recording complaints on the one system. - Details of the customer complaint and a few-word summary (this can be used as categories for future complaints).
- Any supporting evidence including receipts or CCTV footage.
- How the complaint was handled and what actions were taken.
- If the customer requires a follow up via phone, email, or letter.
See an example of a Customer complaint form.
5. Act and follow up
The preference is always to have customer complaints resolved on the spot. However, some complaints may require investigation.
It is important to act and follow up in a timely manner. We recommend a maximum of seven business days to investigate and respond to the customer with a resolution.
Ensure this timeline clear to the customer to manage their expectations.
6. Learn
Complaints are a great way to improve your business with an opportunity to gain insights from your customers and their experiences at your site. Proper records will ensure you can monitor how staff are handling complaints and identify any recurring themes.
For example, depending on the size of your business, you may wish to review your complaint handling system every two to three weeks to find which themes are recurring. From here, you can make necessary changes to improve your business.