Six weeks, three people, no record
A customer complains that their new windows have condensation on the inside of the glass every morning and a draught at one frame. The office takes the call. A fitter visits and adjusts the frame. The customer emails that it is no better and they now want new frames. The owner rings them. Six weeks later the customer mentions they have contacted your trade association.
Nobody can put together a clear timeline of what was said, what was checked and what was offered.
Why complaints drift
Complaints come in through every channel and to whoever answers. Each person deals with their part and assumes someone else has the whole picture. Nobody does.
- Complaints are not logged as complaints, just as calls or emails.
- There is no single owner for each one.
- Visits and advice given are not recorded against the complaint.
- Deadlines from your own procedure or scheme are not tracked.
- The job's history, photos and paperwork are not attached.
How complaints must be handled, and any deadlines that apply, are set by your own procedure, your scheme or trade association and your advisers. The log applies your procedure.
What drifting complaints cost
Complaints that drag on become more expensive to resolve and more likely to escalate to a trade association, scheme or court. Without a record, it is hard to show you acted reasonably. Customers who feel ignored leave poor reviews. And the same root causes, such as a product or a fitting practice, keep generating complaints because nobody sees the pattern.
A complaints log with the job attached
- Anyone who receives a complaint logs it in a few fields: customer, job, what the complaint is about and the channel.
- The complaint is assigned an owner, and the deadlines from your procedure are set automatically, such as acknowledgement and response.
- The job's history is attached: survey, order, photos, fit records, handover documents and previous calls.
- Every contact, visit and finding is recorded against the complaint, with photos and readings where relevant.
- The owner is reminded as deadlines approach, and overdue complaints go to a manager.
- The outcome is recorded with a category, so reports show common causes by product, fitter or supplier.
| Stage | Recorded |
|---|---|
| Received | Channel, date, summary |
| Acknowledged | Date and method |
| Investigated | Visits, findings, photos |
| Responded | What was offered and why |
| Closed | Outcome and cause category |
After the change
Every complaint has one owner and one record. Customers get acknowledged and answered within your procedure. If a complaint escalates, you can show the full timeline in minutes. And the cause categories show, over time, whether your complaints come from products, fitting, communication or expectations, which is where the real improvement happens.
Sometimes the record shows a customer has a fair point that nobody picked up. Seeing that early is cheaper and better for everyone than finding out through a trade association.
Staff also find complaints less stressful when there is a clear process. The person who takes the call knows what to record and who owns it next, and the owner knows exactly what has already been said and done. Complaints stop being something to avoid and become something the business handles properly, which customers usually notice even when the outcome is not everything they asked for.
Checklist for complaint handling
- Complaints are handled by whoever answers, with no owner.
- You could not produce a clear timeline for a recent complaint.
- Deadlines in your procedure are not tracked.
- You do not know the most common causes of complaints.