I have just added another post in the Complaint Series at GetFiveStars:  8 Steps for Dealing with Customer Complaints.

I put together a concise guide to help you create a plan for complaint resolution. And that is something I really think you should do, put together your own plan. When the s%^t hits the fan, it will give you a play book to reference to avoid the many pitfalls that can get in the way of a good outcome.

But not all businesses and not all complaints fit neatly into the guide I provided. In fact there are many situations where the person handling the complaint just can’t act to resolve the issue. What then?

For example imagine you run an insurance agency that has prices set by corporate. And you get a complaint about pricing from sweet little old lady/gentleman on a fixed income, over which you have no control? I would imagine switching out step 7.  Perhaps in stead of  “Act to resolve the situation” the agent  should “Advocate for the customer” and take their complaint back to corporate.

I would love to hear where and when you think the 8 step complaint guide that I provided might break down and not work; what are the exceptions? what are the alternatives? How would the steps in your plan or imagined scenario be different?

Here are the previous posts in the series in case you want to see some of the data that informed by guide:

1. SURVEY: How Quickly Should A Business Respond to a Complaint?
2.  SURVEY: Are We As Good As We Think We Are?
3. SURVEY: What Happens When Things Go South? You Lose More Customers Than You Ever Know
4. Survey: 8 Things That Really Cause Consumers to Complain
5. 5 Good Things About Customer Complaints