How to Respond to Customer Complaints
How to Respond to Customer Complaints
As customer retention takes on priority across the board, it is really important to know how to respond to customer complaints. Companies that handle customer complaints better are more likely to retain customers and even turn unsatisfied customers into advocates.
Below are best practices to handle common customer complaints. We have also added 5 customer complaint response templates to help you ensure consistent and clear complaint handling communications across your team.
Let’s begin with some of the most common types of customer complaints.
Types of Customer Complaints and Their Causes
Here are some of the most common customers complaints businesses receive with their underlying reasons:
- Poor customer service
Good customer service helps keep customers loyal and can even turn them into enthusiastic advocates of your business. Lousy customer service assures the opposite. Poor customer service can be driven by a rep with the wrong attitude, inefficient service, or policies that are perceived to be misguiding. To keep customers happy, it’s essential to train staff on the proper customer service practices and ensure sufficient knowledge and clear policies.
- Dissatisfaction with your product or service
If a product is faulty or doesn’t perform as well as expected, customers will complain. Complaints can range from a malfunctioning or broken product to misaligned expectations. In any case, it is essential to acknowledge that the customer is disappointed and address it with empathy.
- Long waits (for any reason)
Nobody likes to wait, whether it’s for a seat at a restaurant, getting a hold of a customer representative, or delivery of a product. You can expect customers to be even more agitated if the wait time surpasses their expectations. Make sure you set wait time expectations and do your best to meet them.
- Lack of action on a previous complaint
Complaints are an excellent opportunity for you to improve, and addressing them in time allows you to turn a disappointed customer into a loyal one. If the complaint is not addressed quickly, or even worst - not at all, the customer may become frustrated, and you may lose the opportunity to win them back.
- Confusing and contradictory company information
There are many available channels to communicate with customers - social media, web content, and in-person communication from store representatives. Sometimes, customers notice conflicting information about price, availability, or store policies, which can confuse them.
How to Respond to Customer Complaints
- Listen
Offer your full attention to the customer when they express their complaint. Resist the urge to interrupt even if they are wrong. It’s essential to make your customer feel heard and valued.
- Apologize and acknowledge the issue
Regardless of whether or not the customer is right, they are clearly dissatisfied. Make sure you apologize for whatever the issue was and make them feel validated.
- Express thanks for the customer’s feedback
Handling an upset customer is not always fun, but reaching out and complaining requires effort from the customer as well. Customers can often stop buying your goods or services without telling you why, so by making an effort to complain, the customer is providing you an opportunity to improve. Thank the customer for their feedback and you may get a second chance to improve their experience.
- Outline next steps to the customer
After listening to the customer and acknowledging their issue, it’s important to outline the next steps. Assure the customer that you’ll be taking action to address their complaint, and let them know what they should expect and when they should expect it. For example, if your company’s policy allows you to send a replacement product immediately, let the customer know.
If you’re uncertain about the next steps, let the customer know that you’ll get back to them with an answer as soon as possible.
- Take action
Make sure you deliver on your promise as soon as possible by prioritizing addressing the customer’s issue.
- Follow-up
After you resolve the customer complaint, follow up with them to ensure they’re satisfied with the result. Let them know what action you’ve taken, and ask them if you can be of any further assistance.
Templates for Responding to Customer Complaints
Templates are super helpful in ensuring you account for all details before responding to a complaint.
Having some sample answers to a complaint helps you feel prepared to address your customer. Here are some great, high-quality templates you can use to respond to customer complaints quickly and efficiently:
Customer Complaint Response Template
I see that your order still hasn’t arrived. I apologize for the inconvenience.
Your order is en route. You can track the delivery progress and latest expected delivery date here: {formtext: name=insert link}.
If you don’t receive your order by the updated expected delivery date, please contact us again. I will continue to check in on the package’s tracking status and report anything else that I hear.
Again, I apologize for this inconvenience.
Best, Ashley
Customer Complaint Response Example
Complaint - customer’s previous complaint wasn’t resolved
Dear {formtext: name=First name; cols=9},
I apologize for the delayed resolution and I appreciate your patience.
Our support team has now resolved your issue. If you have any further issues, please feel free to reach out to me by replying to this email.
{formtoggle: name=offer discount; default=yes}Your business is important to us and I’d like to offer you {formtext: name=offer; cols=30} for the inconvenience.{endformtoggle}
Thank you again for your patience.
Best, Ashley
Sample Response To A Customer Complaint
Complaint - Customer is dissatisfied with the product
I’m sorry to hear that you're not satisfied with your purchase.
A return label will be sent to you in a separate email. Please let me know if you don't receive it.
We will issue a refund once we receive your shipment.
To make up for this inconvenience, I’d like to offer you a {formtext: name=10; cols=2}% discount on your next purchase.
Your feedback is important to us. Thank you for taking the time to share your experience.
Once again, I am so sorry for the inconvenience, and hope to serve you better in the future.
Best, Colleen
Responding to a Customer Complaint Sample Letter
Complaint - customer had a bad customer service experience
I apologize for the bad experience you had with one of our representatives on {formdate: LL; name=date}. Ensuring a positive customer service experience is a top priority for us, and it's clear we didn't live up to our standards. Thank you for taking the time to bring this to our attention.
I will share your complaint with our leadership and initiate steps to ensure this doesn't happen again in the future.
Additionally, I want to offer you a {formtext: name=10; cols=2}% discount on your next purchase to make up for the inconvenience.
Again, I apologize for your unpleasant experience with us. Your feedback is valuable to us and we hope to do better in the future.
Please let me know if you have any further questions or concerns.
Best, Joy
Customer Complaint Response Template
Complaint - customer is confused by conflicting company information
I apologize for the confusion caused by the conflicting information you received from our store rep and our website. We aim to be consistent in our communication, and it seems like we fell short this time. Thank you for bringing this to our attention.
The correct answer to your question can be found here: {formtext: name=link to the store policy}. Specifically, {formtext: name=relevant policy}.
I escalated your complaint to the attention of our Senior Customer Experience Manager, who will ensure our representatives are trained on the most up-to-date information going forward.
Again, sorry about the inconvenience this caused. Feel free to reach out if you have any further questions.
Best, Lindsay
Suggested Reading - Learn everything you need to know about How To End An Email
Final Thoughts
Templates for responses to customer complaints help you respond to customers quickly and with poise. Text Blaze offers hundreds of templates like this to help your agents improve their consistency and productivity, and eliminate repetitive typing.
Contact us if you’re interested in hearing more about our savable text snippets and templates.
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