It is TMI's intention that each one of these examples will increase your personal understanding of how to improve your own complaint handling.
 

I recently called a U.S. based airline to inquire about the availability of a business class seat from San Francisco to Manila. I needed to fly in approximately six weeks time. The reader should understand that I have flown this route many times over the past ten years, and seats are plentiful in all classes of service to this destination. 

When I inquired about a certain date with the airline's representative, I was told that no business class seats were available on that particular date. Knowing how those planes are frequently half-full, I asked if the agent could please check with his supervisor because there must be something wrong with the computer. There are always seats available! 

The agent was not keen to hear me suggest there could be something wrong with his computer or information. "Look lady," he said, "we are sold out on that day. I'll check the next day." After a moment, he said, "We're sold out the next day as well, business class, San Francisco to Manila." "Well," I retorted, "then I know for certain something is wrong with your computer. Please check with your supervisor." Instead, he checked the entire week, and proudly announced they were sold out for that entire week. "Come on," I said, "check with your supervisor. I fly this route frequently, and I can't imagine you are sold out this far in advance in your business class section." 

The agent actually checked through the following three months, each time insisting they were sold out. Finally, he agreed to check with his supervisor. 

When he came back on line, he said, "We aren't flying that route any more. As of next week, we are discontinuing service to that market." 

Sometimes the customer knows more about your business and than your staff. Do everything you can to avoid putting your staff in a situation where they: (1) look stupid or poorly informed; (2) feel inclined to argue with the customer; (3) make your organization look like you do not communicate well internally. 

Janelle M. Barlow, Ph.D.  

Coauthor, A Complaint Is a Gift, Using Customer Feedback as a Strategic Tool 
  

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We invite you to submit your "best" examples by fax or e-mail. We won't print any company names with the "poor" examples, because we believe that every organization fails from time to time. We will give credit to companies delighting their customers. In the case of the "poor" examples, we'll comment on how we think this situation could have been handled better. If you want us to list your name, please tell us that is what you want to do.

 

A Complaint Is a Gift, The Training Program  

  A Complaint Is a Gift, The Book  

Note: We have been getting e-mail from our readers asking us to list the names of the companies who get complaints. Our policy is to never list names. The reason for this is because every company fails from time to time, and we wouldn't want to tar some company's name just because of one bad example. Furthermore, we are dependant upon the writer's side of the story. We don't know for sure what happened, and in the name of fairness, we will not post names. Furthermore, the purpose of this corner is not to pass complaints along to corporations. This Complaint Is a Gift corner is designed to look at examples of good and bad complaint handling so we can learn from these experiences. Please, if you have a direct complaint you want a company to learn about, contact them directly. In many cases, we have never heard of the company in question and have no idea how to reach them. Janelle Barlow

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