Pipeline draft · Customer service
DRAFTHandling a customer complaint
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- CS-01Given a customer complaint, de-escalate it, establish the facts, and close it with an agreed next step the customer can hold you to
A complaint is the chance the others did not give you
A complaint is not an attack and it is not a request for an apology. It is a customer telling you that the gap between what they expected and what they got has become worth their time to report. Most customers who are let down say nothing and leave. The one who complains is giving you the chance the others did not.
**The first minute decides the next twenty.** An angry customer is carrying two problems: the thing that went wrong, and the feeling that nobody has listened. The second is dealt with first, because a person who does not feel heard cannot hear anything you say.
Naming what happened in the customer's own words, and saying you understand why it matters — before anything about causes or fixes. Not an admission of a fault not yet established, but agreement that the customer's experience was bad, which is a fact they own. "I'm sorry you feel that way" is not acknowledgement; it apologises for the feeling rather than the event, and the customer hears exactly that.
A specific action, a specific time, and a specific way the customer will know it happened. "I will raise the refund now; it reaches your card within five working days; you will get a confirmation by email today." A vague close ("someone will look into it") is where a complaint becomes a repeat complaint, because the customer has nothing to hold the organisation to, and calls back to create it.
Key takeaways
- Acknowledge the experience first, in the customer's words, before causes and fixes.
- Facts come from the record, not from anyone's memory — check it while the customer is with you, and say what you are doing.
- Ask the customer what they want; do not guess.
- A complaint has one name on it until it is closed; if you pass it on, pass the facts with it.
- Close with a specific step: an action, a time, and a way the customer will know it happened.
Work one complaint from open to close
A customer calls, angry: she was charged twice for this month's subscription, she emailed support four days ago and nobody replied, and she wants to know "who is responsible". Take the call step by step.
Knowledge check — not scored
A customer opens the call angry about an order that arrived late and broken. What is the first thing you should say?
Select one answer.
A customer in a chat asks for something you cannot authorise: waiving a contractual fee. The team that can is in tomorrow. The customer has written three long messages so far and says he will not explain this again to anyone.
Knowledge check — not scored
You have established the facts and agreed on a refund. Which close is an agreed next step?
Select one answer.
Files in the repository: lesson.json · items.json · STATUS.md