Customer Complaints - don't wait until they hit social media!
If there’s one thing that’s a dead cert, it’s that every company will face some sort of customer complaint. This is not a shortcoming in any way; it is simply a testament to the fact that we are human and thus error prone - no one is 100% perfect after all.
Venturing into the machine realm, even the most accurate computers can become faulty! Once an error has taken place, the rectification actions you pursue will determine the ultimate perception of your company, and whether you retain or lose a customer. Most rational and reasonable customers will make attempts to directly contact your company via private channels for a resolution before taking to social media. This is the critical point at which you should take the initiative to resolve the situation – not after it hits social media, and then attempt futile damage control.
Let me illustrate two examples that my family faced over the past twelve months. The first was during the curfew spanning March to May 2020 and concerned a major dairy producer. They offered doorstep delivery of UHT milk, with the only caveat being that one had to purchase a minimum quantity of one case – a dozen 1-litre packs. Fair enough and we made the purchase.
The first pack was fine, the second had spoiled. Ditto packs three, four and five, at which point we attempted to contact the company via their regular channels. Silence greeted us, before I decided to take to social media. A mutual friend saw my post and provided a contact person at this large agribusiness firm who then responded and offered multiple options. We settled for a refund. However, this too took several days as the field representative allocated to carry out this task kept trotting out various excuses. When the refund came after many telephone calls, we were utterly disgruntled, and to this day I do not purchase any product from this company, as this sour experience certainly did not make my life richer.
Fast forward to April this year for my second example; With Covid-19 running free like the flood waters along Horton Place after a heavy rain shower, we minimise our visits to shops and supermarkets, opting instead to order our supplies home. We ordered a large quantity of packed rice from the most widespread supermarket chain in the country.
When we received the order, there was a whopping Rs.45 difference between the MRP on each rice pack, and the billed amount. Totalling this overcharging came to over Rs. 500! Once again, reasonable efforts were made to contact the outlet staff - all of which fell on deaf ears and unanswered e-mails. It was the Sound of Silence and I decided it was time for my adaptation of this famous Simon and Garfunkel song, which lyrics something like ‘Hello Facebook my old friend…I’ve come to rant on you again’. A friend saw my post and informed one of her relatives who works at the historic conglomerate that operates the supermarket chain. Six hours later, we had our refund, a profuse apology and the Area Manager’s telephone number should we face any issues in the future.
Here’s one more example that recently caught my eye on Facebook, and is as direct to hospitality as one can get. The post with accompanying pictures complained that “Arrived for a three-day vacation at XXX hotel, and were given a room with a leaky WC in the toilet. Have complained, but they told us the hotel is full and cannot offer us another room, only more bath rugs to soak up the water”. A few hours later, the frustrated hotel guest had edited his post with an update, stating; “after making this post public, the GM came to our room, profusely apologised, and upgraded us to a suite. Nice gesture but why couldn’t they resolve it when I privately complained, rather than after I took to social media”?
Dear business leaders, managers and supervisors - social media is not the magic crystal ball in which you can receive all customer complaints at your convenience. It is rather like the newspaper or TV channel – everyone can see it, form opinions, and decide if to patronise your establishment or not. Your best course of action is to catch customer complaints when they reach you via private channels, rather than allow them to slip through and end up on social media. After all, it is an ‘eternal’ medium – once something is on the Internet, it can never be truly taken down – just ask Beyonce, who had a particularly unflattering picture snapped of her during her 2013 Super Bowl halftime performance and has tried since to have it taken down…but it still floats around, eight years later.
Ashraaq Wahab - Technical Director Hospitality Sri Lanka, Automotive Journalist, Marketer and Writer, who enjoys penning his thoughts, insights and ideas on a variety of topics.
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